Reading the Clues
by financebabe
Summary: A crazy night out with the guys leaves Stephanie desperately trying to figure out exactly what happened, and more importantly with whom. All the typical items included: a crazy stalker, a mystery to solve, and an eventual HEA with one of the MM.
1. What Could Possibly Happen?

_All the characters belong to JE, I'm just going to get them into a little trouble to have some fun with it._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) I'm not sure I would have started this story without you agreeing to keep working with me as a Beta. Thank you!_

**Chapter 1 – What Could Possibly Happen?**

I couldn't figure out what to wear. Tank was going to be here in thirty minutes and I had yet to get past putting on my bra and panties. I finally just stuck my hand in the section of my closet that housed my distraction wardrobe and pulled out the first thing my hand landed on. Whatever it was I was determined to wear it.

I instantly regretted that decision as this dress still had the tag on it. Somehow I'd let Lula talk me into buying it six months ago and had never found the courage to step out wearing it. Still, I had made a decision and I refused to back down so I cut the tag off, sucked my gut in and slide the scrap of red material over my head tying it on at the neck. It fit better than I remembered in the store which was a plus considering it fell maybe four inches lower than my crotch and had cut outs in the material almost showing more skin than it covered up. I looked at the top and realized with the back being non-existent I needed to take off the barely there bra too. This was as close as I could get to being naked and not getting arrested for indecent exposure. I grabbed a rain coat to put over the dress when my ride arrived. It was cloudy tonight and I didn't want anyone to see this little number until I unveiled it.

Since they had begun to give me a com unit in addition to my wire, I had gotten a kick out of listening to their comments in my ear. This dress should be good for a few laughs, especially if I accidentally dropped my bag on the way in.

I was nervous about the distraction. From what Tank told me it was an easy skip, not violent, but usually hard to get alone. My role was to get him away from the guys that usually surrounded him and outside for the Merry Men to capture. It was simple enough, and I'd done it successfully a hundred times before, but Ranger wouldn't be there tonight and I always felt uneasy when he wasn't there.

Four weeks ago Ranger broke in my apartment at night scaring the crap out of me. He apologized saying he didn't mean to wake me but wanted to see me again before he left town. He was going to work from the Miami office for a while because his daughter was now in high school and was dating heavily. He wanted to be around for the last couple of years before she left for college and he wanted the chance to scare off the boys who weren't worthy of her. I laughed at that image knowing he wasn't kidding.

I asked when he would be back and he just rubbed his fingers down the side of my face with a sad expression. I didn't know what it was supposed to mean, but it frightened me that I wouldn't see him again for a while.

Morelli and I had called it quits six months before so it seemed like all the men in my life were leaving me. Of course this past Monday night Joe came to see me. He wanted to let me know he and Taylor, the ER nurse I introduced him to, were going to elope in Vegas this weekend. They weren't telling anyone so I had to keep his secret, but he didn't want me to hear about it through the grapevine when they returned either. This was just one more sign that we were better as friends because we never were this considerate to each other when we were dating.

I knew Joe and I shouldn't be together, but knowing he was getting married and Ranger was gone indefinitely had me in a funk all week. I didn't ask when we had to have this guy by but something tells me the whole sudden distraction on a Friday night was actually Tank's way of trying to lift my spirits more than it was for me to help out RangeMan. I wasn't above a little pity; I needed a reason to get up and dressed anyway.

I heard a firm knock on my door and opened it to a nervous looking Tank. "Is everything alright?" I asked him, stepping aside to let him enter the apartment.

"It's fine," He replied holding out his hand revealing my wire and earpiece. When I returned from the bathroom after struggling to find a place that I could tape the wire without it showing, he was standing by the door ready to leave.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" I asked him when we silently pulled away in his Navigator.

Tank let out a long breath and confessed, "We've got the regular crew working the distraction, but word got out about this one and a few of the other guys are coming to see if you'll stay with them and dance."

"Why?" I asked, very suspicious of the social invitation.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you." He said more to himself than me. "We know you've been down about Ranger leaving, and then with Joe going off to Vegas to get married we thought you might enjoy some fun to take your mind off things."

"How did you know about Joe?" I asked knowing he hadn't told anyone.

Tank just glanced at me as though it were foolish of me to even ask such a ridiculous question. The Merry Men were all knowing, or at least had very reliable and stealthy sources.

"Let's just get through the distraction and see how it goes before I decide about sticking around for dancing." I figured I shouldn't commit to it in case things went badly and I ended up covered in some food or maybe even garbage. Stranger things had happened and with the way my luck had been lately I wouldn't put it above happening again.

"Lester is the one you'll need to deal with, this was his big idea," Tank said sounding relieved I hadn't pressed him for more information.

I should have known Lester would be involved. He was my self appointed protector. A few days after Ranger left I decided getting up and dressed was highly overrated so I stayed in my pajamas and went in search of food in my apartment. Of course I had none, so I decided to work my way through the six-pack Joe had left the last time he came over for a game. Don't judge, beer has lots of grains in it. If it weren't for the whole fermentation process, I'd practically be drinking whole wheat toast so it isn't that far of a stretch to make it a sensible breakfast choice.

After I finished my third one I picked up Rex's cage and sat him on the floor so I'd have a little company in my quickly deteriorating condition. That's how Lester found me, my head resting on Rex's cage, and my fifth beer in my hand. He had just heard about Ranger's intent to make his move to Miami permanent and for whatever reason, thought he should check on me in his cousin's absence when I didn't show up for work that morning.

He picked me up after talking me out of the rest of my breakfast and put me on the sofa while the coffee brewed. After that morning, he showed up at my apartment every day with some sort of justification for being there. While he never picked on my rationalization for the beer breakfast I think he wanted to be sure I didn't do it again either. Of course starting your day with a sexy guy checking up on you was nothing to complain about so I began getting up with an alarm clock so I would be presentable when he showed up. It was a natural friendship that quickly meant a lot to me.

He said I helped him keep perspective and offer him advice on his many dates. Honestly, with all the women he picked up I'm surprised there were still options out there for him to use as one-night stands. I never judged. I knew Les' life hadn't been an easy one and by his own admission, he knew the string of women was nothing more than a distraction to keep him from looking too closely at his life. One day he would grow up and I couldn't wait to see what would happen then. In the meantime, I enjoyed his laid back company and it was nice to think there was still someone interested enough to watch over me.

Tank gave me the file when he parked in the back corner of the lot. A quick glance showed me three other black SUV's that I was sure belonged to the other Merry Men. The skip was Walter Jenkins. He was actually charged with contempt of court for refusing to show up and testify against a leading member of one of the large Italian families in town. No one had used the words organized crime, but they would have been true anyway. Mr. Jenkins loved fast women and had a social calendar that resembled Lester's so I didn't think it would be too hard to get his attention.

"You only need to get him to follow you out where Ram and I will take him down. This one shouldn't be that difficult." Tank advised.

I opened the door and stood up trying to get my attitude to match what I needed to convey. Tank cleared his throat and I looked at him questioningly, "What?"

"Coat?" He asked, holding out his hand to take the last piece of modesty I would posses tonight.

Realizing I needed to get in touch with my inner slut I teased him and said, "Okay Big Guy, but remember you asked for it." Then I slowly undid the belt and slid the jacket off my arms before tossing it to Tank.

"Jesus!" He exclaimed.

I tried to hide my grin as I heard other, more colorful exclamations when I turned around and began to strut my way into the club. I noticed Ram as the bouncer at the door, whose blank face was completely gone when he smiled and winked at me before opening the door to let me in.

The club was dark with flashing lights over the dance floor and low level lighting at the bar. The moment I stepped in far enough to be seen I heard Bobby's voice ring out clear as a bell, "Damn, she's like sin in heels."

Woody replied, "Yea, but she'd be worth going to confession for."

That one almost made me laugh. I spotted the mark at the bar with stools empty on both sides of him. I approached his right and pretended to drop my purse giving me a reason to bend over and get his attention without saying a word. Apparently, Walter wasn't the only person whose interest I garnered as I picked up the sound of Cal saying, "Shiiiit! Girl, you're killing us here."

Les, ever quick with a come back said, "That's right Beautiful, work it just a little more and you'll not only get our skip, but half the bar will follow you out too."

One last voice chimed in, but I couldn't tell who said, "I know I'd follow her. Damn look at that dress."

I managed to get on the stool, purse in hand, without flashing anyone else and smiled when Vince came over as the bartender. "What will it be for the lady in red?"

"Gin and tonic," I ordered knowing I'd get tonic with a slice of lime.

He sat it down with a wink and asked if he could get me anything else. "Not unless you've got a drink that will cure a man from being an asshole."

"That's not really my area of expertise." Vince said walking away shaking his head.

Walter leaned over reeking of whiskey sours and said, "I take it your boyfriend is being an ass?"

I looked him over and realized he definitely looked greasy enough to be a stereotypical member of a mob family. "Yea, we were supposed to get together tonight to have a good time. I've had a long week and all I wanted was a way to kick back and be a little naughty, but he took one look at me and said the way I was dressed tonight made me look too easy and he wanted to have to work for it. I mean, it's okay for a guy to just want sex, but if a girl wants it there must be something wrong with her." I made sure to flap my arms around in mock indignation digging into my own Italian heritage.

Walter bought it hook, line, and sinker. "Well, if all you are interested in is a good time, then I think I could help you out."

I pretended to give him the once over and said, "I know you could, but are you willing to do it right now?' I used the stir stick as a prop by putting it in my mouth after the last word and running my tongue down it drawing his attention to my mouth.

Walter threw down a twenty and grabbed my elbow saying, "Absolutely," and guided me to the door. Half way there a neck free goon jumped in front of us and Walter said, "Move, you aren't necessary for this."

The guard walked away and we walked out where Tank and Ram were waiting. They got him cuffed and I pretended to be shocked and afraid. Walter called out, "Just go back in honey, this doesn't concern you." At least he didn't associate me with his being captured.

I dashed back into the club and walked over to where the guys had crowded around the bar at the stool where I had been sitting.

"Beautiful, that was less than two minutes from bending over to walking out," Les reported. "That's got to be a new record."

I ran my hands through his spiked hair and leaned against him when his arm went around me. "You scared us when you bent over though. We were afraid half the club would start hitting on you and the skip wouldn't be able to get close enough to follow you out."

I realized I was still wired and had a com unit so I asked who they should go to? "Hal is heading back to the office so he can take them with him." Les told me.

I was feeling playful so I handed him my earpiece and then held up my finger in a wait gesture. I never broke eye contact with Hal and loved watching him blush as I reached into my dress to pull the tape and wire out. I put it in his hand and then felt bad for putting him through such torture as he almost tripped over his own feet trying to get out of the bar.

The guys roared in laughter when he finally made it out so I turned to Les and asked, "What's this I hear about sticking around tonight and dancing a little?"

"Really, Bomber?" Bobby asked. "You'll stay with us?"

"Only if you'll dance with me," I replied holding my hand out to my favorite medic. The fact that he was the only medic I knew was irrelevant.

Bobby's face lit up as he grabbed my hand and led me to the center of the dance floor. I'd danced with a few of the guys before and always marveled at how well they moved. Bobby was no exception. The driving beat almost thumped in my chest and I fell victim to its rhythm as soon as my partner put his hand on my hip and brought me close to him. I draped one arm around Bobby's shoulder and let the other one move up my neck to lift my hair. When the song ended and a slower one began Lester came over and cut in.

He pulled me close to him so that we could talk and hear each other over the blaring lyrics. "Be careful tonight Beautiful," He warned.

"Careful of what?" I asked wondering what on earth he was talking about. "You almost looked like you were having a good time with Bobby when you were dancing. If you let it get out that you are ready for some fun you might find the guys paying you closer attention." He explained.

"What are you talking about?" I was still lost.

"Half the guys here want to ask you out, but are only holding back because they want to give you time and space to get over all you've been through lately."

"Geez, Les," What was I supposed to say to that. "What about the other half?" I joked.

"They are convinced they're in love with you already but are too chicken shit to ever act on it." He explained with a laugh that didn't quite convince me he was joking.

"Which category do you fall in?" I asked sounding braver than I felt.

"I'm in a category by myself," He confessed making me respond, "Ain't that the truth."

Les squeezed me a little tighter catching my joke before adding, "I'm the only one that loves you for who you are, but know I could never love you like you deserve."

We'd had this discussion before so I understood what he meant. Les felt like he couldn't commit to any one woman and since I couldn't do anything remotely close to casual sex, then we were destined to be great friends, and nothing more. Although he did enjoy teasing me that if I ever wanted to try an open relationship we could have a lot of fun together. I laughed at the time, but if my dry spell regarding orgasms outside of the shower continued, his offer might prove to be more than I could resist. Dancing pressed again him now already proved we had great rhythm and our bodies fit together nicely.

When the slower song ended something came on I didn't recognize but it had a strong Latin beat. Vince came up and grabbed me from Lester's arms and spun me in to him. I didn't know the dance, but Vince was a great leader and following him was simple, especially since most of it involved him putting a leg between mine and then rubbing our hips together suggestively. If this song didn't end soon, my dry spell might be over sooner than I thought.

I continued to work my way through the Merry Men dancing next with Woody, followed by Zip, Ram (who had just returned from the police station dropping off the skip) and finally Tank. I was getting hot and thirsty so I caught Lester's eye at the bar and made a drink motion with my hand. He pulled himself form the set of twins that were perched on his legs and came to me with a rocks glass filled with a dark colored drink.

I took a big drink before Les had a chance to warn me. The tears sprang to my eyes as the liquid both quenched my thirst and burned my throat at the same time.

Les was laughing when he took the glass from my hand and said, "This was my drink. I was just coming over to ask what you wanted."

When my voice would work again I looked at the dance floor and realized I needed this. I needed a chance to relax and have some fun. I'd spent entirely too much time hiding in my apartment. So I turned back to my friend and said, "I'll have what you're having."

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he double checked, "Are you sure Beautiful, that's the equivalent of about five shots."

"You'll make sure I get home okay?" I double checked.

"Relax, we've got your back," He promised, so I took his drink away from him and carried it over to the table where the guys were sitting.

Bobby saw what I was holding and asked, "Was that Lester's?"

I nodded taking a smaller sip and smiling at the fact it didn't burn as much this time.

Being the planner of the group Bobby said, "Alright guys, keep it to a minimum, Bomber is hitting it hard tonight. She can only leave with one of us, and we have to be sober enough to get her there safely."

"Please," I said rather loudly trying to communicate his rules were a bit over the top, "This is only one drink."

"Right," Bobby replied as I took a much bigger sip, pleased with the complete lack of watering eyes as I drained the rest and then held my hand back out to Vince to dance with him again.

He grabbed it eagerly and led me back out to the dance floor. I spent the next hour dancing and realized I had a great buzz going on, but didn't really think I was drunk. Lester must have been worried over nothing. Most of the guys were dancing with other girls so I made my way over to the bar and ordered a double shot, guzzling it as Woody came over and asked me to dance with him again.

It was a slow song and I liked the way he put one hand at my waist after wrapping it completely around my back. He put his other hand in my hair and rubbed lazy circles on my neck while we silently moved). As soon as the song ended Ram cut in and pulled me to him in a way to eliminate any space between our bodies. A girl would have to be dead to not appreciate the way his body felt.

The last thing I remembered was Tank telling Bobby to beat it, that he was going to dance with me. For such a big man I found him very light on his feat. He even held one of my hands in his own with his other resting on my hip. It was both protective and intimate at the same time.

After that things began to get fuzzy. I know I continued to dance, and I'm pretty sure Zip, Zero and Junior joined me at the part. I believe I made it back to the bar a few more times, but I have no idea what I drank.

Try as hard as I can, I can't get any other memories from last night to surface. I don't know why I'm surprised, I'm not all that clear on the present either so why on earth I should be able to construct the past is beyond me.

I knew my neck wouldn't work. Well, I could probably force it to work, but the pain involved in lifting my head was definitely not worth it. Of course, my bladder would chose now to demand attention meaning I was going to have to either get up, or wash my sheets later. Knowing I was entirely too lazy to wash my sheets, I had no choice but to get up.

I opened my eyes which turned out to be a huge mistake as it made the monkeys that live in my head begin to hit their drums loudly. I decided to just try and feel my way to the bathroom because opening my eyes was absolutely not worth it.

I stood up and realized I was completely naked. I used my hand to verify this fact and definitely didn't feel the dress. What the hell happened last night?

Making my way slowly to the bathroom I realized I was sore, like I had been running. Maybe I danced a lot more than I thought. I sat down to take care of mother nature's call and realized I felt strange everywhere. I know I was hung over, but this was way beyond normal even for that.

No, that couldn't be right. As much as it hurt I was panicked enough now to open my eyes and look at what was going on. I looked at myself and realized it was undeniable…I'd had sex last night. I had several hickies on the parts of my body that I could see without using a mirror. I'm assuming since I didn't remember having sex, I probably didn't remember to take my pill either so I decided I should take it now to be covered. I stood up a little too fast and my stomach rolled, making me bend over and give up any nourishment I'd taken over the last few days. At least the cool tile felt good on my back when I collapsed backward on the floor.

I had my wits about me to grab a towel as I fell asleep again as soon as I stretched out on the floor.

The next conscious thought I had was that I was floating. At least it felt like I was floating. I tried to pry open an eye, but found it was too hard. Just how much did I drink last night? I know I moaned and then I heard laughter.

I was going to ask who was there, but it came out a mumbled mess that was unintelligible making my company laugh again. "It's alright Beautiful. I was worried when you didn't come in this morning, so I waited in case you needed a little extra sleep, but it's 3:00 so I think it is time for you to enter the land of the living."

I moaned again not agreeing with his assessment that the clock should tell me when I should wake up. "I brought you the cure," He added, sitting down with me in his lap. I smelled the salty goodness of McDonald's fries and gladly opened my mouth for him to feed me.

Lester patiently fed me my fries and gave me periodic sips of Coke too. By the time I was finished I was able to open my eyes, sit up, and look around with the world spinning. "How's that?" He asked seeing my careful assessment of how I felt.

"I'll have to let you know later," I replied thankful my voice was at least working.

"How did you end up getting home?" He wondered.

"I have no idea. I have no memory of who brought me home. I thought one of the guys was supposed to do it." I told him and watched his eyes as he took in the marks on my body that the towel clearly didn't cover up.

"So, you have no idea who…" He left that question out there unfinished.

"None," I confirmed. "Who ever it was didn't bother to stick around." I said sounding slightly bitter about that fact. I mean if we had sex, and obviously he took the time to mark various spots on my body, what harm could it have done to stick around until I woke up.

"Do you want me to ask around and see who drove you home?" Lester volunteered.

"No!" I screamed, regretting it instantly. I might feel better, but that doesn't mean my headache was gone.

"Relax Beautiful, your secret is safe with me. I know I've had my share of morning wake ups when I knew something had happened, but had no idea what or with whom." He admitted.

"As nice as it is to have someone who understands, it hardly makes me feel any better." I told him feeling very ashamed. "Somewhere at Haywood is most likely a guy who knows we spent the night together but I don't know who it is or even if I liked it."

"Well from the looks of you, I'd bet you enjoyed it," He said touching a mark on my thigh. I smacked his hand, but smiled a little despite myself.

"Relax, if you were that drunk, chances are he was too so he may not remember it either." Les added laughing.

"Alright, it's time for you to go. This has gone from being helpful to down right embarrassing." I told him standing up and trying to keep the towel on me in someway to block Lester's view.

He stood up and walked to the door before asking, "Are you coming in today?" I shook my head no. I mean it was nearing 4:00, what was the point. He pressed by asking, "Monday?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I told him pointing to the door indicating he should leave.

I went back to my room and looked at my bed wondering if anyone else would show up or if it would be safe to just climb in. I decided at the very least I should cover up the important bits so I threw on some panties and a big t-shirt. The bed was a wreck with covers thrown everywhere so I tried to straighten them and noticed stains on the dark sheets making me moan again.

I would just have to put that on the growing list of bridges to cross at another time.

When I laid down I felt my head hit something and sat up to see what it was. There was a piece of paper on my pillow which I promptly sat up to examine. Once the room stopped spinning I opened my eyes again and read it.

"Steph, I'm so sorry I had to leave before you woke up. Tank wouldn't accept this as a reason for missing the morning meeting as much as I'd love to try. I have to be out of town today at a client, but I'll be back Sunday. I'd love to see you again, but I'll understand if you need a little space. I'm so sorry about leaving early but I'll remember last night while I'm away. You were amazing. X"

I didn't recognize the handwriting. It was sloppy, but that would be true of most of the guys, especially if they were tired and slightly hung over. Shit, shit shit! How did I get myself into this mess? What was in that drink Lester gave me? If he was still here I'd kill him. Maybe if I hide in my apartment all weekend this whole mess will just go away and no one will ask me about it on Monday.

There, I had a plan to lay low until next week and go in early before many of the guys were at their desks. If I put my earphones on, they would probably let me work undisturbed and if I can avoid anyone bringing it up for enough days in a row, hopefully they'll get the message and this whole mess will disappear into the list of crazy things Stephanie has gotten herself into.

As long as I stuck to my plan, what was the worst that could happen?


	2. Entering Denial Land

_None of the characters belong to me. JE created and perfected them._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you for agreeing to tackle another story with me as the Beta extraordinaire._

**Chapter 2 – Entering Denial Land**

I spent the rest of Saturday in bed and was relieved to not have any unexpected visitors. Sunday I decided to get up and at the very least wash the sheets that still bore the evidence of my drunken exploits. With that done, I could pretend the whole night hadn't happened and put it behind me. My phone rang regularly, but I ignored it and turned the volume down so I didn't have to listen if someone left a message. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Monday morning, I stuck to my plan and got up early. I put on all black, as the standard RangeMan uniform, and pulled my hair back loosely behind my head in a low ponytail. When I double checked myself in the mirror I saw the remnants of a few hickeys so I yanked the scrunchie out of my hair and let it go wild and free. That covered up the worst of it, and the long sleeve t-shirt took care of the rest.

I double checked my purse for all the necessities: wallet, keys, stun gun, pepper spray, lip gloss, mascara, chocolate bar, I-pod, and nail file. Yea, that should do it. On second thought, I should probably throw in another candy bar, or stop by the store on my way in for a box of Tasty Cakes.

When I got to Haywood I sat in my car for a few minutes trying to find the courage to get out and sneak in. Finally I decided if I sat out here any longer the guys in the control room would get suspicious so I sucked it up, put the ear buds from my I-pod in and got out of the car. I walked by the control room on my way to my cubicle and waved at the guys as I passed them, hoping the smile on my face would look authentic enough to keep them from asking me any questions.

Luckily Rodriguez had been busy and my inbox was jammed full of searches. Man, as if I needed another reminder of how screwed up this whole situation was, now I was glad that my inbox was full and I was singing the praises of Rodriguez?

I threw myself into my work and kept my head down. A couple of hours later someone threw their arms around my neck making me scream and nearly wet my pants. When I pulled the ear phones off I heard Lester's unmistakable laughter behind me. "Damn it, Les, you almost gave me a heart attack!" I all but yelled at him.

"I'm sorry Beautiful, I didn't see you were listening to music so I said hello before I tried to hug you and I assumed you heard me." He confessed still laughing which took away any signs of remorse he might have felt. "You doing okay?" He asked, getting his chuckles under control.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine." I said feeling more grateful for his concern than my response conveyed.

"I missed our breakfast today and since I'm going to be working in the office this morning I wondered if you wanted to grab a bite of lunch with me about noon?" He offered.

"Where?" I pushed him not willing to go to a dive because Les wanted to check out some hot waitress.

"Pinos?" He suggested, letting me know he really only wanted to have lunch. I figured it would get me out of the office for a while which was a good thing, and usually when he invited me he paid, which was a better thing.

"Sure, come get me when you're ready to leave," I agreed and watched him walk away. I might be happy with our status as friends only, but I'd have to be dead to not appreciate the sight of that man's ass when he walked.

I tried to refocus on my work and left my music off for a while. I could hear Junior and Bobby talking across the isle from my cubicle and couldn't help but eavesdrop a little.

Apparently Bobby picked up someone at the club because he was telling Junior how his date was a wild woman and he was pleasantly surprised at how well they got along. When he asked Junior how his evening turned out I heard, "After you left we stayed for a couple of hours more to dance with Stephanie and watch out for her. Man, she was so hot I thought we were going to have to hurt some of the guys at the club to keep them away from her."

"You didn't let any strangers get to her did you?" Bobby asked. I couldn't help but lean a little to hear the response. 'Please let him say no' I thought.

"Nah, man. We promised to watch out for her and we did. No strangers even got to talk to her much less dance with her. But shit, she was hammered. Even drunk that girl's got moves most women would kill for." Junior explained. I wasn't sure if I should be mortified or pleased with his description.

"How'd your night end up?" Bobby questioned.

"Like I'd tell you," Junior replied with a bit of attitude. I heard footsteps indicating the conversation was over and someone was headed my way.

I jerked back up, nearly falling out of my chair when the wheels started moving without my permission, but recovered in time to see Junior stop by my cubicle. "And here is the star of the party," he said leaning against the doorway.

"Hey Junior, nice weekend?" I asked, trying to remember anything that might tell me if Junior is who I ended up going home with.

"Yea, it was great, but nothing could top Friday night," He admitted lowering his voice.

I could feel the heat on my face as my cheeks lit up. "It was a good time," I said with an unsteady voice.

"I'm surprised you can remember much of it. I don't think we did a good job of keeping you sober, but it looked like you were enjoying yourself." He informed me before dropping his voice and saying, "At least you certainly told me you were."

With that piece of information, Junior walked away chuckling and I was left sitting there dumbfounded. Was Junior saying we had fooled around? Was he the one who gave me the hickeys? If he was I'd have to seriously hurt him. He told Bobby he knew I was hammered, so why would he take advantage of me like that? I was getting a headache from all the questions so I tried to focus on the search in front of me and let this little mystery go.

Just as I was able to get my concentration back where it belonged my phone buzzed from Hal at the front desk. "Steph?" He asked uncertain.

"Yea, Hal, what can I do for you?" I wondered. Hal never called me.

"There is a delivery down here that just came for you. Do you want me to send it up, or do you want to come down for it?" He asked.

"What is it?" I needed more information to make a decision on the right approach. I didn't want to get up and have to face any more of the guys just to get down there and find a stalker had left a note.

"Umm, I think they're carnations, mums, daisies and baby's breath, but I'm not sure." He replied making me shake my head. A simple answer of flowers would have been sufficient.

I told him I'd be right down just as Lester came to my cubicle to see about leaving for lunch. I explained my need to stop on the way down and his eyebrows shot up. "Are these from your mystery man?" He wondered.

"They're probably from a stalker. This is me we're talking about." I explained rolling my eyes. Unfortunately, my answer was more probable based on my history.

The arrangement wasn't huge, but it was big enough to be beautiful. Les put his hand in and drew out the card offering it to me between his index and third fingers.

"You read it," I told him. "If it's creepy I'd rather not see it."

Lester didn't hesitate to open the little envelope and pull out the card, but before he glanced at it he raised a single eyebrow as though asking if I was sure I didn't want to see it first.

"Go ahead," I impatiently instructed. I was getting hungry and if I had another stalker this might be my last meal out for a while.

He smiled and said, "Come with me, I think we need to discuss this over pizza."

Assuming I had just gotten another crazy I followed him to his truck and climbed in for a quiet ride to my favorite restaurant.

It was crowded with the lunch rush, but RangeMan parking karma extends to available seating and the back booth emptied just as we walked in so we got the best seat in the house.

Once we gave our order and the waitress walked away Les took the florist's card out of his pocket and pushed it across the table using only his index finger.

I looked down feeling like I was about to be swept away to a safe house when I was shocked. The card said simply, "Although it was amazing and I can't regret it, after sobering up I realized I owe you an apology. I'm sorry if I took advantage of you Friday night and hope you'll forgive me. X."

"What's with the 'X?' Can't he just sign his name to make this simpler?" I huffed out.

Les found my exclamation funny and explained, "I think he's under the impression that because he can remember what happened that you can too. He probably means it as a kiss, not as a fake name."

That would make sense. If the Merry Man in question didn't realize how wasted I really was then he is probably wondering why I haven't spoken to him. He must think I'm giving him the cold shoulder or the silent treatment in exchange for taking advantage of me.

"What am I going to do?" I asked Les. "He thinks I know who he is."

"Do you want me to ask around and find out who took you home?" Les offered again.

"No, don't do that. I don't want everyone to know I was so drunk I let some guy take me home and have sex but I can't remember who it is." I explained just as Eddie walked by the table.

"It's nice to know some things haven't changed since high school." He said with a wink and a wave but he moved fast enough so that I couldn't get a dig in return. It shows what he knows. I didn't have sex under the influence for the first time until college. Unfortunately I was completely sober when Morelli and I did it and I remembered all thirty seconds of it with perfect clarity.

"So, what do you want to do?" Les asked with no hint of teasing in his voice. When he wanted to be he could be a great friend and I had a feeling this was one of those moments.

"I want to have a re-do of Friday Night and have a specified designated driver of Hector so that I could make it home safely and alone." I said childishly.

He nodded that he understood that before pressing me, "Since that isn't an option what is your second choice?"

"I don't know," I honestly admitted. "Hope he either tells me who he is or someone else makes it clear. In the meantime, I'll just keep my head low and hope no one else finds out what happened."

"If you change your mind…" He began, but I cut him off by saying. "No, I can't imagine being so desperate that I'd give up my dirty little secret just to find out who put a few marks on me."

"Got it," Les said letting me know he wouldn't press me anymore. We fell back into our comfortable banter and passed the hour easily. When we were finished I pulled my purse up to offer to pay, but he put his hand up and said, "My invitation, my money." Just as I suspected, lunch with Lester was always a great thing.

When we got back to Haywood the flowers were on my desk and there were a few guys standing around them talking. Just because I didn't want Les to do any asking around didn't mean I wasn't interested in knowing who I'd spent the night with. Maybe I could do a little stealth detective work myself.

"Hey guys, something I can do for you?" I asked with a coy tone to my voice.

Tank, Hal and Zip all turned around quickly as though I'd gotten the sneak on them.

"Nice flowers," Tank said not asking me any questions, but it was obvious he wanted to know who they were from.

"Yes, it's nice to get them from someone other than a stalker." I said effectively ending the question and answer session. They knew I wasn't being chased by a crazy so they had no legitimate reason for asking me anything else.

Tank and Hal walked away, but Zip came closer. "I've always liked daisies," He began. "There was a movie once where the leading lady said they were such friendly flowers and I always wondered if you felt the same way." Without waiting for me to respond beyond my smile at his comment he walked away.

That wasn't all that helpful. Was Zip the guy who sent the flowers? Did he specifically select them to see what I liked? If so, why did he walk away without waiting for a response? Had I offended him by going to lunch and not thanking him right away?

Shit, guys say women are hard to understand but whoever my encounter was with was not doing anything to reveal himself either. Why all the mystery? Would it be that hard to sign his name?

I'd had enough of the questions so I pulled another search request down out of my inbox and settled back into work. At 5:00 on the dot Vince showed up at my desk and sat an earring down on the top of my current paperwork. I looked up at him confused.

"I assumed this was yours and you lost it Friday night." He softly explained. "It was in my shirt pocket so I don't know if it came off when we were together or if it was someone else's."

I looked at the earring and it didn't look familiar at all. Reluctantly I admitted, "No Vince, I don't think it's mine. Are you sure it was from Friday night?"

He picked it back up and held it in his fingers, "It looked like something you would wear so I guess I hoped it was yours. It definitely got in my shirt Friday, but I danced with several people so it may have been one of theirs."

Was he saying that all we did was dance together, or was he saying he danced with other girls but he did more than that with me? I remembered dancing with Vince and I could see how someone could lose an earring because of the way he spun me around and pulled me to him with a passion. I shivered slightly at the memory. While I was lost in my thoughts Vince disappeared.

So far I had three suspects in Junior, Zip and Vince. How was I supposed to figure out who it was?

Fortunately, it was time to go home so I could avoid the issue a little longer. Tomorrow was my day to work for Vinnie so I could stay in denial that it didn't really matter. Obviously whoever it was didn't see it as a start to a relationship or they would have picked up the phone.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I remembered my phone was ringing a lot on Sunday and I never checked my machine. Maybe he did call and he's upset with me for not responding to his message. Maybe I'd find my next clue at home.

I ran through the drive through on my way home and picked up a value meal from McDonalds. I had them throw in an apple pie so that I could consider it a well rounded meal since it had fruit and French fries as my vegetable. Who says I don't think about good nutrition?

I decided to eat my dinner before checking my machine. I figured whoever had left me a message had already waited a couple of days so an extra hour for me to eat my fries while they were still warm wouldn't be that big of a deal.

When I finished dinner I decided to tidy up the apartment a little. I mean, what if this guy decided to drop by and check on me? I wouldn't want him to think I was a slob. I didn't get too much work done before I realized most of the guys had been in my apartment numerous times and already knew I didn't keep it spick and span all the time. Who was I kidding?

I walked over to Rex's cage and asked if he could give me any hints about Friday night. He poked his head out of his can and looked at me, but when he realized I didn't have any food in my hands he lost interest in my plight and curled up for more sleep.

I watched him for another minute and realized sleep sounded like a good idea to me too. The messages could wait until tomorrow.

The next day, my alarm went off at its normal time and against my will my body woke up so I drug it to the shower to get dressed for a day of rounding up skips.

Just as I was coming out of the bathroom I heard the lock of my door being picked. I stood there waiting to see who thought the door knocker didn't apply to them and was rewarded with Lester holding a Tasty Pastry bag.

He smiled at me knowing the doughnuts would buy him forgiveness for his minor B and E.

While we were eating I kept glancing at my answering machine. It had twelve messages and I felt like the blinking red number showing that total was just mocking me, daring me to listen to them.

Les saw my eyes cutting to the phone and finally asked, "Beautiful are you going to listen to the messages or are you waiting for them to delete themselves?"

I stuck out my tongue at him going for the mature response before hitting the play button to prove I wasn't afraid. The fact that my hand was shaking when I did it can be explained by the fact that the sugar from the doughnut hadn't hit my bloodstream yet and I was still a little sluggish.

The first two messages were from my mother informing me Sarah Lowouski had seen me at a bar on Friday night dancing with a whole group of guys. She wondered how Joe would ever marry me if I was throwing myself at everyone in a bar.

I then had one telemarketer followed by three hang-ups. The next message was from Les just checking in to be sure I was alright. Hearing his friendly voice on the machine made me smile and he took my hand in his while the rest played.

The next was a political candidate wondering if he could count on my vote in the fall followed by a credit card company who needed to talk to me about my account. Les squeezed my hand but said nothing.

There were two more hang-ups leading to the final message. I was just about to relax when I heard a slimy sounding voice say, "I was sorry we didn't get to have our evening together. I hear that you managed to have lots of fun and even convinced someone to take my place that night and show you a really good time. I should have this whole thing straightened out soon and I'll come find you. We have some unfinished business that I think we should resolve."

I looked at Les and saw anger flashing in his eyes. His grip was definitely tighter on my hand and bordered on painful, but when the final beep sounded indicating the end of the new messages he dropped my hand, grabbed the answering machine, unplugging it from the wall and phone and then called out, "Come on" over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

I followed him to the parking lot but when he climbed in his truck I walked over to the driver's side door instead of taking my usual seat making Les look at me surprised.

"I'm assuming you think that was Mr. Jenkins from the distraction Friday night in which case you don't need me to go with you to the office. I have to go by Vinnie's so you just take that and let me know if you need anything else from me." I hoped by talking fast he would go along with what I said.

I turned trying to cut off his chance to disagree and began to walk quickly to my latest POS car. Just before I put my key in the door I felt a hand grab my upper arm and spin me around. "Not so fast, Beautiful." Came Les' smooth voice.

My shoulders fell knowing he wasn't going to let me skip putting in an appearance at Haywood. "How about we go to the office together and then I'll help you round up your skips? Maybe by working together we can make up the lost time."

It was a generous offer and I knew with his help I'd probably stay clean and not have to roll in any unidentified substances. Perhaps with the message from Jenkins everyone would be so distracted I wouldn't have to answer any personal questions.

When we got to Haywood Les led us to the fifth floor conference room holding up the machine when Tank raised an eyebrow at us questioning what was going on. Not needing words like us mere mortals Tank eyed Bobby, Vince, Hector and Cal who fell in step and met us around the long table.

Lester plugged in the machine and forwarded through the mass of messages stopping when Walter's voice filled the room.

I was surrounded by six angry Merry Men when the machine clicked off. They were trying to hide behind their blank faces, but failing. "Can you get the phone records to tell if the call came from the PD?" Tank asked Hector.

"Si," Hector replied before getting up to begin work.

Tank stopped him before he got out of the room and asked him to see about mirroring my line for a while until Jenkins' case was closed. I wasn't sure what mirroring was but I assumed it meant someone at RangeMan would be able to hear all my personal phone calls for a while. I was less than happy about that.

Then Bobby spoke up, "So what was he talking about when he said you found someone to fill his place and show you a good time?"

I panicked not wanting to admit to everyone that I'd had sex that night, but I didn't want to lie to them either. Cal must have sensed my dilemma because he spoke up, "Man, you know we were all showing her a good time. Especially me. Hell, I'll bet she's never seen moves like what I showed her that night." He winked at me and I smiled in return.

Holy cow, was Cal confessing that he was the one that took me home and was just trying to play it off as dancing at the club only? My head was going to explode if I couldn't come up with a way to narrow the field and figure this out. I wasn't really looking to act on the information but my curiosity was beginning to get the better of me.

Tank silenced the other guys as they began to disagree with what Cal said and insisted we get back to the subject at hand. They decided to put a guy on Jenkins if he was released after testifying next week. We would wait until then to make any assumptions over whether of not he was going to be a threat.

The guys all left except Les who realized I'd not said a word the whole time we'd been in the conference room. "You okay Beautiful? You know we'll protect you, right?"

I nodded. Sure, if there was a psycho out there who wanted my attention I trusted that they would keep me alive and safe. Of course, they promised the same thing Friday night and look where that got me. I didn't say anything but stood up and grabbed my purse instead.

Les led the way as the walked out to go round up some of Trenton's finest to return them to the system. When we stepped out to the main part of the floor a hush fell over the office. Great, everyone now knew that I had been threatened which meant they would all start treating me as though I were some fragile doll. Hopefully they all wouldn't find out what the message said. Something told me whoever took me home on Friday wouldn't take too kindly to knowing he was being spied on while we were together.

As the door to the elevator began to close I heard someone in the break room being told to calm down and then I heard a horrible crash. It was what I imagined it would sound like if someone threw the stack of plates and bowls Ella kept there for the guys to put their lunch on. I was going to jump out and see what really happened, but Les put his hand on my arm and shook his head no. I wondered what that was about but I didn't think it was the right time to question his advice.

Besides, I could always ask about it when I was in the office tomorrow. If I'd learned anything from the time I'd worked here it was that the guys were as big on gossip as the ladies at the Cut n' Curl. On second thought, not wanting to be the center of the gossip maybe I should just let this go and not ask about it at all.


	3. Dream Lover

_None of the characters are mine. JE invented them, I'm just using them for my own amusement._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) there is nothing else to say other than thank you. I can't imagine posting without your beta eye helping me out._

**Chapter 3 – Dream Lover**

Having Les with me was godsend on so many levels. First, we were able to get in and out of the bonds office quickly because the girls didn't want to hit me up for gossip with Les standing there looking business like. Perhaps just as important, we were able to round up my skips in record time without me getting too dirty.

I was back at my apartment with the door locked by 8:00. I took a long and well deserved shower before deciding I was exhausted and went to bed early. I was dreaming about dancing and my partner had fabulous moves. Technically he was leading but it was as if I knew what he was going to do before he indicated it so that we moved seamlessly together.

I couldn't see his face, but he was wearing all black, and I found it comforting because I knew it was one of the guys from work and they wouldn't hurt me. I relaxed in his arms and just enjoyed the feel of security and warmth that emanated from him.

The next image my mind came up with was us in my apartment. I was pressed against the door with my dress pulled up so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. He tried to pull away and whispered so softly I couldn't recognize his voice, "Are you sure?" I had no trouble hearing my response of "God yes, now!"

The final picture was after we'd had finished and were lying on the bed together totally spent, he pulled me closer to him and used his left hand to hold my arm across his chest while his right hand made slow patterns on my back all the way up my neck in the back. It was comforting and erotic and I was disappointed that I was so exhausted because it was just enough to encourage my Hungarian hormones to kick back into drive.

Just as the image was getting fuzzy around the edges I heard him sigh. He didn't say anything so I couldn't pinpoint any characteristics of his voice, but the slight bit of vocal intonation as he let the breath out told me his voice would be lower in pitch. Not as low as Tank, but definitely more baritone than Binkie. That only narrowed it down to three-fourths of RangeMan.

As I was waking up I continued to try holding onto the image of us lying together clinging to each other but it faded against my will and I sat up with a growl of frustration. I decided a shower, a nice long private shower was just want I needed. If I didn't get a grip I was going to wear out my massager.

I was bouncing down the steps of my apartment when I saw a black Town Car parked next to my Hyundai. There were two huge guys sitting in the front seat with sun glasses on despite it being an overcast day. They were wearing suits and ties so I knew they weren't from RangeMan. I stopped immediately and pulled out my cell phone while running back up the stairs.

I dialed the control room and got Junior on the first ring.

I interrupted his standard greeting by saying, "This is Stephanie, there are a couple of guys in my parking lot that look like they just stepped out of a mob movie." I slammed my door and locked it while I hear Junior relaying the information to someone else.

"Stay on the phone with me Steph. Les and Bobby were already out so they are going to swing by. Can you see them from a window to see if they're still there?" He suggested.

I walked to my bedroom and looked out that side of the building. "I can see their car is still there, but I can't make out if they are sitting in it or not." I told him getting more nervous by the second.

Then I heard someone banging on my front door. I screamed like a leading character doomed to her death in a slasher movie.

"Stephanie?" Junior called out with his own panic rising in his voice. "What's going on?"

"Someone is knocking on my door really hard." I whispered.

"Go look and see who it is." He advised and my legs seemed determined to obey despite my heart yelling 'Stop!'

I looked through the peep hole and couldn't see anyone. "There's nobody there." I said still in my stage whisper.

Junior told me Les and Bobby were on site and I should just hang time with him on the phone until they cleared me to open the door. The silence as we waited was driving me crazy but Junior finally said Bobby and Les had cleared the building and there was no one there, but they did find something taped to my door which they were looking at in the hall.

I thanked Junior for staying with me on the phone and he replied, "No big deal Stephanie. I hope you know I would do anything for you," before he said his other line was ringing and he had to go.

I peeped out the hole again and saw the guys standing there with their blank faces firmly in place. Whatever they found didn't make them happy.

I unlocked the door and opened it making both of them swing around. Les practically knocked me over hugging me to his chest. "Shit Beautiful, you scared the crap out of us." He said rubbing his hands up and down my back as if he needed to reassure himself that I was okay.

Satisfied I hadn't been harmed in anyway, he let me go reluctantly and they had me tell them everything I could about what happened. When I was finished Bobby handed me a piece of paper that had come from a standard printer with the words, "I know who you work for and was disappointed you weren't what I thought. I may give you a chance to redeem yourself when I'm free. Until then, take care of that dress. I want to see it again."

How creepy was this guy? I mean, we would know when he was released from jail. If he testified he would go free and it would be a matter of public record. RangeMan would keep me safe when that happened until Jenkins either made a move or mysteriously disappeared as sometimes happens to the people who threaten me. Of course now that Ranger was gone from Trenton that might not be an option.

Les proved his skills when he leaned over to whisper in my ear "Don't think for a minute that Ranger is the only person who would kill for you." Then he sat back and asked, "Were you ready for work?"

I nodded that I was so he stood up indicating I was coming with them. "I can drive myself," I complained in the parking lot.

"We know you can," Bobby said, "But think of this as a RangeMan carpool. There is no reason to waste your gas when we're all going to the same place."

"And how will I get home tonight?" I challenged.

"Whoever is heading out then will drop you off." Les replied with a smirk as though he just scored an impossible shot to win the game.

I got in the truck, but I made sure they saw me roll my eyes and take a huffy breath. I would go along with all this nonsense, but I didn't have to like it. If they thought they were locking me up at Haywood they had another thing coming.

As soon as we stepped off the elevator Vince was standing there talking to Hector and he pulled me to him in a tight hug. What was with the guys today? This was my second hug and I wasn't even near my desk. Usually I was the one that initiated the touching around here. Before he let me go he whispered, "I'm so glad you're here. You almost gave us a heart attack." Then he let out a long breath that ended with a sigh and I stiffened remembering my dream. Was my subconscious telling me it was Vince that spent the night with me?

I didn't have time to think about it because Cal came by and yanked me from Vince's arms to put his own around my shoulder and walk me toward the conference room. "You just can't get enough of me, can you?" He asked, teasing me with his deep full voice. Oh hell, now he was sounding like the guy in my dream too. This was getting ridiculous. Shadowy images were clearly not reliable sources of information in this case.

The same group that had congregated yesterday over this issue was in the conference room today and Bobby put the letter in the middle of the table so everyone could see it. Hector's face went to stone and the look in his eyes told me the teardrops on his face were earned and not just for show. I had never seen this side of him before but I was grateful to know he was on my side.

Tank called Hector's name twice before he looked up. "I want you to install another deadbolt on Steph's door. Then I want entry sensors on every door and window. Steph, I know it's a pain but until this is resolved every time you go in or out you need to call the control room so that we know you are the one setting off the alarm. If we don't hear from you, we'll assume it's a forced entry and a team will respond accordingly."

I didn't like the idea of being so closely monitored, but it did sound like a good idea. And since it meant I could stay in my apartment instead of being forced into a safe house I was okay with letting them do it.

"The trial Jenkins is to testify at is in full swing. The prosecution has him slated to appear on Monday of next week. If he cooperates he will be released with time served as his sentence on the contempt charge. If he refuses to speak, then he'll go right back to jail. So I'm guessing these guys are just delivering his message and for now you are safe. Still, I don't want you taking any unnecessary chances. Any way you will agree to have at least one guy on you from now until then?" Tank asked knowing as he said it I wasn't going to accept that.

"No way. They were only delivering a letter. If I hadn't freaked out then we wouldn't be here right now. I don't need a body guard." I stated emphatically.

"Okay, we'll let you tell us if you change your mind, but if he takes this any further than a piece of paper being taped to your door then you will have to live with backup because we aren't going to let anything happen to you." When he said the last bit Tank put his large hand over both of mine in my lap. It always amazed me how much of a gentle giant he was. Heart of velvet, body of stone - that was my friend Tank.

"Alright," he brought the attention of the group back to the matter at hand. "Keep your ears open on the street and let me know if you hear anything new." With that, everyone stood up to leave so I followed suit and made my way back to another thrilling day of mind numbing computer searches. Still, it paid the rent and kept my shoe budget filled. I used Vinnie to cover the cost of my food because I needed my shoes to come from a more stable form of funding.

Woody stopped by my desk just before lunch and asked if I was going to take a break. I followed him into the break room thankful for Ella's special care of me when I opened the cabinet and found my jar of peanut butter hidden in the back. I pulled out some whole wheat bread and tried not to wrinkle my nose as I spread the creamy nutty goodness over the top. Woody laughed at me and handed me the jar of olives from the fridge that had my name and the words "get your own" written on the side.

"I still don't see how you can eat that stuff Darlin'." He said as I put a few of the salty spheres on the top of the peanut butter smiling at my culinary masterpiece.

"It's an acquired taste," I admitting taking my first bite and moaning. I hadn't had my favorite sandwich in a few weeks and it seemed better than I remember for some reason.

Woody dropped the plate he was holding but reclaimed it before it hit the floor and shattered.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, wondering what was wrong. It wasn't like the Merry Men to be jumpy. And was he blushing too? That was nearly unheard of.

"I'm fine, but Ella would have given me a serious talking to if I'd allowed another plate to break after yesterday's fiasco." He admitted in his sexy southern drawl.

I was about to ask what happened yesterday but Zip came in and walked straight over to me and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Are you alright?" He asked looking in my eyes for the answer as though he wasn't sure he could believe what I said.

"Yes, it was just a letter," I reassured them both.

"It was more than a letter; it was two hired goons waiting for you to come out of your apartment unprepared. The message was secondary." Zip clarified before stepping back a little.

The expressions on both their faces unnerved me so I told them one more time I was fine, and promised I would be careful from now on before taking my sandwich and going back to my desk. I liked being around the guys and having someone to talk to while I ate, but this type of attention was making me self conscious and I wanted to go back to hiding in my cubicle.

I thought about what Zip said though and wondered if Connie might know anything about the situation. Connie was Italian and had family connections with a capital F. She picked up on the second ring and I asked if she had a minute to talk.

"Sure Steph, what do you need?" She asked, making me so happy to have such good friends that they would stop whatever they were doing to listen to me. Of course she was probably only painting her nails or trying to discretely pluck her eyebrows, but still it's the thought that counts.

"Have you heard about Walter Jenkins and the Family he is supposed to testify against?" I asked her.

"Sure, my uncle has been going on and on about that for weeks now. What about him?" She replied.

"Well he seems to have fixated on me and had two guys in bad suits drop a message off at my apartment this morning. He's still in jail so I don't think I'm really in danger, but I wondered if there was anybody you could ask who might know if I'm just a sideline of amusement for Jenkins or if I should really be concerned." I explained.

"Let me make a few calls and I'll get back in touch with you on your cell." She answered.

"Thanks Connie, I owe you," I told her gratefully.

"Sure thing, the next time we go out, the first round is on you." She teased just as I heard Lula's unmistakable voice in the back ground demanding to speak to me.

"Girl, you coming in?" She wondered.

"Not today, but I'm going to try and get in there tomorrow if there are any files for me." I told her.

"Be sure you bring some doughnuts. Connie here don't get any on her way in no more on account of her trying to lose some weight. But I ain't trying to shrink and a real woman like me needs some morning doughnuts." She explained.

I bit my tongue instead of asking why she didn't go out and get her own breakfast and decided to tell her I'd be sure to come prepared in the morning. They were a crazy pair of girlfriends, but they were mine.

The rest of the day passed quickly and at 5:15 Junior came over and asked if I was ready to go. He was heading out and could drop me off at my apartment on his way to a surveillance shift. I thanked him and stopped in the middle of my file, glad to have a reason to leave work while I could still feel my rear end.

The ride was mostly quiet. His cell phone rang three times interrupting any attempt at conversation. When we parked I didn't see any unusual cars in the lot so I was comfortable going up alone. Of course Junior wouldn't hear of that so he came around to my side and opened the door keeping himself between me and the open part of the lot until we got to the elevator.

At my unit he put his hand out for the keys. I'd been through this routine more than enough to know he was going to unlock my door and go in without me to secure the apartment and I needed to stand right next to the door until he gave me the all clear. It took him fifteen seconds to tell me there was nothing more frightening in there than the moldy contents of my refrigerator.

As we passed each other in the doorway he stopped and put a hand on my shoulder. "Call me if you need anything Steph." I nodded that I heard him as he repeated the word "Anything," before stepping into the hall.

I knew when word got out that I had a crazy after me again the guys would all start treating me as though I'd break. But somehow this was different. It was more, like there was a personal element in their concern this time that I had never noticed in the past. Maybe Lester was right and some of them did have feelings for me. If that was true I couldn't trust much of what they said to figure out who my mystery date had been.

I threw my lock and the chain on to secure the apartment when I noticed a new deadbolt with the key stuck in it for me to take. I shook my head at Hector's speed in getting the work done just as my house phone rang.

Hal was on the line and asked if everything was alright. I told him I'd just gotten in and Junior had said I was clear so I assumed so, then I remembered the monitors and apologized for not calling. I had no idea Hector could have gotten them installed so quickly.

Hal told me not to worry about it and then added, "He did say he hopes you don't shoot them," Which made me laugh aloud. I wondered if Hector would ever forgive me for shooting the alarm he installed a couple of years ago. Somehow I think instead of it making him think of me as a crazy woman, it cemented me in as someone he liked. Weird.

It was too early to go to bed so I took another shower and put on some shorts and a t-shirt to lounge around in hoping to find a decent game on the television.

My cell rang and I stretched to reach it instead of getting up. This turned out to be a mistake as I fell off the couch just as I touched it landing hard on my side, nearly knocking the air out of myself.

"Hello," I got out on the little breath remaining in my lungs.

"Steph, it's Connie. I've got some information for you about Jenkins." She jumped in telling me she'd been on the phone this afternoon.

Of course that got my attention so I sat up and listened.

"Jenkins works for the Bertucci family and has been subpoenaed to turn state's evidence on Tony Bertucci who is one dangerous man. Even within his family he is considered a loose canon. Word is that Jenkins has refused to testify which is the only reason he's still breathing – that and the fact he's married to Tony's sister. Jenkins and Tony were childhood friends and they share some things like a love of brunettes and a thrill of beating up women. So I can't tell you Jenkins is harmless. If he gets out of jail I'd say he doesn't make empty threats, but if he stays in, the family might feel a certain obligation to teach you a lesson for hurting someone so loyal to them. In their eyes he's not in jail for contempt of court charges, he's in there because you got him picked up." Connie finally took a breath before adding, "You need to watch your back, Hon."

"Thanks Connie. I owe you one." I told her meaning it.

"We'll see you tomorrow?" She asked hopeful.

"Yea, I'll be there, Lula threatened me if I didn't bring her doughnuts." I explained.

"Be sure to throw a few in for me too, this diet is making me cranky, maybe a little something sweet would help me to mellow out a little." She rationalized her need for a doughnut.

Of course I had no room to talk. My attempts to reduce my sugar intake always ended in failure so I understood her being a little testy.

"I've got you covered," I told her before hanging up.

Half an hour later my phone rang once more. "Hello," I said distracted by the fact the Yankees were finally finding their swing and the balls were flying left and right.

"Stephanie?" Came a distinctively male voice that was vaguely familiar.

"Yes." I admitted before asking, "Who is this?" I wasn't going to waste my time talking to someone I didn't like during the good part of a good game.

"It's Woody," He admitted with a bit of a deep sounding chuckle. "I figured with the accent you'd be able to place my voice."

I muted the television thinking his voice was a lot more soothing than the television announcer. "I could have figured it out if you'd said something other than my name."

He laughed again and I loved the natural sound of his amusement. "I was just calling to see if you were alright."

"Of course, Junior dropped me off and double checked the apartment for boogie men. Apparently between that and the new lock and entry sensors from Hector I'm safe now." I explained.

"I'm glad you're taking your security seriously, but I really meant were you okay with all that's happened." He clarified in such vague terms I had to guess what he meant.

"Of course I'm okay. As far as stalkers go, this isn't the creepiest one I've ever had," Sad, but true.

"You're right on that." He admitted. "You will tell us if something else happens though won't you? I know Tank threatened you with bodyguards if Jenkins made another move, but we aren't so bad are we?"

"No, Woody, you guys are great. It's just that I feel so guilty when you get hurt or injured because of me. Plus, I know it has to be really boring for you to have to sit around listening to me talk and following me around. It just seems like a complete waste, especially since this time my crazy is in jail." I laid it out for him.

"Just because he's in jail doesn't mean you're safe. His connections make this a pretty serious situation," Woody began his counterargument. "Besides, I can't speak for all the other guys, but I love being with you. I've never once thought it was boring."

"You just say that because the last time you were assigned to watch me I nearly got you shot." I teased him.

"Nah, that was just a side benefit. Up until the bullets started flying at us I was having a good time just hanging out with you." He admitted making me blush despite the fact he wasn't even looking at me.

There was a brief second of silence before he cleared his throat in a nervous sounding way and said, "Well, I should let you go. I just wanted to check in with you to be sure everything was alright."

"Thanks for thinking of me Woody. I'll see you tomorrow." I told him before we said our goodbyes and hung up.

Realizing I was tired and it was getting late enough to go to sleep I gave up on the game and went to bed. When I felt sleep beginning to drift over me I remembered thinking maybe I'd have another dream about Friday night. If I got enough pictures of him maybe I'd be able to figure out who it was. Even if I couldn't make a positive ID, I'd settle for just hearing his soothing voice again. Anything would be better than the reality of having another stalker.

Shakespeare was right, "To sleep perchance to dream, ay, there is the rub." (Hamlet)


	4. Sorting through Mud

_None of the characters are mine. JE created then and deserves all the compliments._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you for being willing to go though another story as my Beta. I'm not sure I could do this without you._

**Chapter 4 – Sorting trough Mud**

The next few days were excruciating and wonderful at the same time. The guys were super attentive and touchy. I could hardly be in a room with one of them without being pulled into a hug or having an arm slung around me. I never remembered them being so affectionate before and wondered what brought this on.

On the flip side, I think all their attention during the day was beginning to affect my dreams. At first I thought my evening visions were memories of the night I ended up having sex with one of the Merry Men but was too drunk to remember the details – like who it was. But the more I thought about the generic man of my dreams it might be a culmination of all the guys rolled into one faceless stranger. Maybe all of their affection was sending my hormones and imagination into overdrive.

Lula and I were going shopping today. I needed something to take my mind off the Jenkins mess and Lula was always up for a trip to the mall so we agreed to meet at Macy's in the shoe department at 1:00 to take the place by storm, or at least by credit card.

"Hey White Girl!" She called out, waving to me from across the store making her ample bosom shake in its red spandex bondage.

I made my way through the staring crowd where she was slipping her feet into a pair of leopard print stilettos. "Girl, I think these are me, and they match the animal print dress I just found in the women's department."

I could never wear the clothes Lula did, but I had to admire her sense of style. It suited her personality perfectly.

We spent the next two hours trying on shoes and clothes and I walked out of there with a few new items to add to my collection, hoping I would have occasion to wear them at some point. One of them was a very fancy dress, most certainly not distraction wear, but when I pulled it on I felt so elegant and refined that I had to purchase it. Maybe it would motivate me to start dating again.

We were having an afternoon snack at the food court when Lula asked me what was wrong, "Girl you ain't yourself? Tell Lula what's on your mind."

Ah, here was a dilemma. If Lula was convinced something was wrong she could be a bit like a dog with a bone. There was no convincing her otherwise. But, at the same time I didn't really want to admit my shame to her. I was about to attempt to blame it on Jenkins when she interrupted my thoughts.

"And don't you tell me this is about the mob boy, cause you've had stalkers before and they ain't gotten to you like this. You're all quiet and weird like you're lost in your head somewhere." Never let it be said that Lula lacked skills of perception. I imagine all the years she spent on the streets perfected her people reading skills.

"Do you remember last Friday when the guys took me dancing after the distraction?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to start at the very beginning.

"Yea, you said you got drunk off your ass and didn't remember a thing." She summed it up for me shaking her head as though the idea of me that wasted was somehow funny.

"That's right. Well it seems that one of the guys had a little too much to drink too, and when he took me home we….well, we…" I simply couldn't say it.

"White girl, you been holding out on me. You and one of Ranger's men did it? Who was it?" She was getting excited now because she actually sat down her chicken to listen to my story. There was very little that Lula considered important enough to stop eating for.

"That's the problem," I told her turning a shade of red bright enough to match her fire engine top. "I don't know who it was."

"You had sex with one of those fine men and you don't know which one." She clarified perfectly.

I nodded and sat my head on the table top too embarrassed to look up.

"He ain't said nothing to you about it?" She sounded surprised.

"Nothing helpful. I got an arrangement of flowers at the office apologizing for taking advantage of me and hoping I would forgive him, but he signed it X instead of with his name." I explained, defending someone I didn't know.

"What about the next morning. Don't you remember rolling over and seeing who it was?" She asked, trying to help me remember.

"No, he was gone when I woke up, but he left a note saying he had to leave for a morning meeting at RangeMan and apologized for not being able to stay with me until I was awake. The note was sloppy and I couldn't make out who wrote it, plus he signed it with an X again so there was no name to go off of."

"Well maybe Mr. Mystery don't want you to know who it was. Maybe he's not that good in the sack and he's afraid you'll ruin his image by telling everybody." She offered as a possibility for his silence.

"Maybe, but somehow I don't think that's right. When I woke up I had hickeys in all the good spots which makes me think he was pretty thorough." I admitted.

"And you don't remember a thing?" She asked with a tone of disbelief.

I shook my head no before adding, "I do keep having these dreams though where I'm with a guy but I can't see his face. He never says enough for me to identify his voice but I know it's someone from RangeMan."

"Oh, Girl you need somebody to hypnotize you!" Lula suggested, picking up her chicken again to eat with gusto.

"What?" There was no way I was going to let someone make me cluck like a chicken.

"I met this guy named Dwayne last week. He's a bartender at that new club Treasures but said he was in school during the day to learn how to hypnotize people. I bet he could help you remember." She explained as though being hypnotized was something people had done everyday.

"I don't know. I think I might be just as well off in the dark. I mean if he wanted me for anything other than a one night stand he would have said something to me by now." I reminded her.

"Maybe he's shy and he's tried but you ain't picking up on the clues." Lula suggested.

"Les thinks whoever it was doesn't realize how drunk I really was and he thinks I can remember our night together because he can." I told her. "If he's right, the guy probably thinks I'm the one that only wanted a one night stand because I haven't mentioned it again."

"Ain't nobody been acting different at the office?" She offered.

"Yea, that's the problem," I confessed. "They've all been acting differently. It's getting confusing because it seems like there are at least four of five possibilities. I don't know how to narrow it down anymore than that."

"You could ask them." She suggested.

I gave her a look that told her how crazy I thought her suggestion was that I walk around the office asking the guys if we'd had sex.

"You don't have to put it all out there, you could say something easy like, 'I think Friday night I might've left my pocketbook in your truck.'" She said as though that would easily clear up the mystery.

"But that wouldn't help. What if they just say no?" I tried explaining the downside of her suggestion.

"If he spent the night in your bed then he'll at least say you two should take a look together so he'll have a chance to have a minute alone with you." She defended her idea.

"I'll think about it. If I can't come up with anything else I may have to use your suggestion." I told her as we began to throw our trash away from our snack.

We walked out together but had to go in opposite directions in the parking lot so I promised to let her know if I figured out the mystery and she promised to keep trying to think of good ways to help me figure it out.

I was about ten feet away from my car when my spidey sense told me I was being watched. I had my keys in hand so I walked faster, hoping to get in my car before something bad happened. When I got to the door I noticed it was unlocked and there was a rose on the dash. I knew the flower hadn't been there when I left the car so someone had forced their way in to leave it. I looked through the windshield but didn't see any notes attached to it.

I debated getting in and driving away throwing the flower out the window, but then I thought better of it. For all I knew it was just a ploy to get me in the car and then it would explode. I really didn't want to call Tank and have him overreact and assign a guard to me full time but I thought I should call someone. After thinking about it for a minute I dialed my current favorite Merry Man and waited for him to answer.

"Hey Beautiful, What's happening?" His bright voice greeted me.

"I'm at the mall," I began before he jumped in.

"Well if you need an opinion on some lingerie, then you have called the right man." He volunteered.

"That tidbit I'll have to tuck away for future reference," I said shaking my head at how his mind really did operate on just one track. "Actually I'm standing at my car in the parking lot and something seems wrong."

I didn't get to finish my sentence before I heard the engine of Lester's car screaming in the background and he told me, "Hang tight, don't touch anything and I'll be there in ten."

"Don't you want to know where I am?" I asked thinking it was a big parking lot he might need a clue.

"Please," He said before disconnecting proving once again the Merry Men were not your average males.

Sure enough in nine and a half minutes Lester and Bobby were standing next to me at the far end of the parking lot outside Macy's shaking their head.

"You know you might be safer, if you parked closer to the building," Bobby foolishly suggested.

"Not all of us have RangeMan parking karma," I bit out at him, immediately sorry for my snippy tone.

Lester explained for me, "Stephanie thinks we all have special favor in the eyes of the parking gods because we always get good spaces and she seems to be next to a dumpster or at the back of the lot."

Within a couple of minutes there was a RangeMan van pulling up and a few more guys came over to take a look at my latest mess.

Lester pulled me in his arms for a hug and said softly, "You did the right thing by calling me Beautiful. This may just be another threat, or it could be something more. Either way, I'm glad you called."

I nodded and then jumped when I heard Tank clear his throat behind us. "Little Girl, you aren't going to like this, but I think it's time to revisit the whole partner issue."

I began to whine until he held up a strange looking box with wires coming out of it. "What is that?" I asked instead.

"This is a smoke bomb set to go off thirty seconds after you sat in the driver's seat. It wouldn't have killed you, but it probably would have scared the crap out of you and could have caused an accident where you would've gotten hurt."

My eyes got bigger as he continued. "This is someone's way of saying they are watching you and if they want to, they could hurt you without you even being aware of it."

"I think he's right about a bodyguard, Beautiful. At least until we see what's going to happen on Monday," Les suggested.

"But it's Sunday night, the trial is tomorrow. Do I really need someone on me tonight?" I wondered.

"How about you let Cal give you a ride home and make sure you're secure. If you promise not to go anywhere this evening we won't post a man in the lot overnight. Junior will be in your parking lot at 0700." Tank stated.

"I'm not going to be awake at 7:00, why not have him come at 9:00 instead?" I countered.

"Because our morning shift begins at 0700 and I want someone there as soon as I can get you to agree. Just because you'll be sleeping or in the shower doesn't mean that you aren't vulnerable. In fact, it makes you more susceptible." He explained in his tone that told me this discussion was now over.

I didn't see Junior so I couldn't make a joke about him having to get up early because of me. Les must have read my mind because he said, "Trust me, the guys will be bugging him in the hope that he'll agree to switch assignments with them. Everybody wants Bombshell duty because it's a guaranteed good time."

I elbowed him in the ribs and replied, "Then I suggest you get a new definition of a good time if watching me is the highlight of anyone's day."

"I'll pass your message along," He said rubbing his side as though I'd really hurt him. "You okay?" He asked a little more seriously.

"Yea, fine, just another day in my life," I sarcastically replied with a sigh.

"Do you want me to rearrange my evening so that I can keep you company tonight?" He offered.

"No way, I know you've got a date with the chick from the deli next to the courthouse." I teased, wrinkling my nose as though I didn't want to hear any details about it.

"That's right Beautiful. There are some women who can't say no to the Santos charm," He replied wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Cal came up behind me and blurted out, "Thankfully those with a higher IQ than wallpaper paste are still immune."

I smiled at my ride home for the evening and he held his arm out in a gallant gesture. "You're chariot awakes, m' lady."

I wrapped my hand around his strong forearm and followed him over to his truck. When he sat down behind the wheel I asked, "But what about my car?"

"Hector and Ram are taking it back to Haywood to dust it for prints and run some other tests on it. This has gone on long enough and we'll need to start building a case against Jenkins for harassment. If he is released tomorrow, we need to be ready to file for a restraining order at the same time." Cal explained.

It looked like not only did I have around the clock babysitters now, but I also had no transportation. If Jenkins was released tomorrow he better watch out for me, because I was quickly getting mad enough to teach him a lesson of my own.

I was quiet for most of the ride causing Cal to ask, "Have I upset you? I know I've been joking around a little extra lately, and I hope I haven't gotten on your bad side."

"No, Cal, of course not!" I quickly responded. "I'm just angry about this whole Jenkins mess. I can't believe I've got another crazy fascinated with me. I mean, it's not my fault, but they seem to come to me like moths to a flame."

I could have sworn Cal was looking at my knees when he said, "I can understand the attraction."

"Huh?" I asked with my full eloquence.

"Nothing," He covered his last comment by holding out his hand for the keys to my apartment. "Come on, let's get you settled in."

After declaring me clear to enter, he shut the door and then volunteer to call the control room to let them know we were the ones who entered the apartment. I looked in my kitchen for any dinner possibilities, but found none so I pulled out a beer instead.

When Cal hung up he asked if he could use my restroom before heading out. I told him to make himself at home but he paused making me think he needed directions. My apartment wasn't that big and anyone who had been down my hall knew where it was which made me remember that Cal had never been to my home. I pointed out the direction of the facilities and thought to myself perhaps I could check Cal off my list of possible suspects from last Friday. Ten days since my memory gap and I finally had one person that I felt okay ruling out. Maybe if I couldn't figure out who it was, I could succeed at figuring out who it wasn't.

Cal left pretty soon after that and I picked up a scrap piece of paper to make a list of all the Merry Men I could think of. I went ahead and marked off Tank because the note I got the morning after said he wouldn't forgive the writer for missing the morning meeting. Tank wouldn't need to forgive himself ergo, it wasn't Tank. Hal I removed because he went back to Haywood with my wire and I don't think he returned, plus I think I scared him after that stun gun incident and I couldn't see him opening up to me.

Next I marked Les and Bobby off because I knew they had gone home with other women. Hector was a given because he wouldn't have gone home with any woman. Finally I knocked Cal off the list because he didn't seem at all familiar with my apartment.

There were some that I thought were married or seeing somebody seriously so that left me with a relatively small group. The guy that brought me home had to be either: Junior, Zip, Woody or Vince. How hard could it be to narrow the field down a little more?

Junior was to pick me up and bring me back to Haywood for work tomorrow. Maybe I could get him to talk to me in the truck and see if he'd drop any hints. I came up with a few discussion points and got ready for bed. Who knows, the Sandman might decide to throw me a hint and give me the identity while I was sleeping. Who knew I was an optimist?

My dreams were interesting, filled with sensual images of me and a tan skinned man. I remember gripping him by his hair a few times and loving the feel of how soft it was. As clues go, it wasn't all that helpful. I couldn't tell if the hair was long or not, just that there was enough for me to grip.

My list of suspects all had similarly styled hair and would all fit the grip requirement so other than waking up in need a long satisfying shower, I hadn't produced much while I was sleeping.

Still, I had the ride to Haywood alone with Junior so there was the chance to drop a few hints and see if he gave anything away. I called the control room before leaving to let them know I was heading out. I had put a post it note on the door so I wouldn't forget and have a team of guys swarm the place, busting down the door while I was gone. I mean, if they are going to get armed and then slip into their tough army personas, kicking in my door and storming in, I damn sure wanted to be there to see it. That would give me fuel for dreams for the next few days at a minimum.

I spotted Junior sitting in his SUV as soon as I got off the stairs. He got out of his truck and ran over to me with a disapproving look on his face. "You should have called to let me know you were ready. I would have come up and walked you down. It's easier to protect you if I know when you're moving."

Geesh, I had no idea how seriously they took this body guarding business. "Sorry, I figured you were mainly here just to give me a ride to the office. I mean most of the bad guys surrounding Jenkins should be at the courthouse to see if he testifies or not. I shouldn't be in much danger right now." I explained.

He opened my door and raised an eyebrow. Multi-tasking show off. When Junior began to drive away I tried to make my voice as casual as possible and asked, "So do you guys go out together much like last weekend?" That was a good opening line. It sounded like I was interested in the group element, not nosing around for anything specific.

"Sort of," He began very off handed. "Most of us go out on Friday night if we aren't working, but we go in smaller groups. Having all of us in one bar isn't typical."

"What made you do it as a pack?" I smiled at my word choice and pictured them as wolves hunting.

"Lester said he wanted to show you a good time and he thought you'd be more likely to stay if you knew there was a big group of us instead of just a couple guys." He explained before adding, "Of course if you had gone home after like you normally do, a lot of us would have gone to other places, but no one could resist the chance to dance with you, especially not in the dress you had on."

I was pretty sure I blushed at his comment. There was a brief period of companionable silence while I tried to work up my courage to ask something else. "So how did you feel Saturday morning?" I blurted out when he turned into the garage indicating my time to push for details was quickly coming to a close.

He laughed at my question which I thought was an interesting first response. "I had a bit of a headache but I imagine it was nothing compared to how you must have felt. I think we failed to monitor just how much you had to drink. How were you?"

I didn't want the question turned back on me, but decided to be honest, "I suffered for the better part of the day and spent the rest of the time trying to piece together exactly what happened. There's a big chunk of time I don't have any memory of."

"Luckily, you know you were with us, so you don't have to worry about it, right?" Junior asked. That was an interesting concluding comment. I guess that means I could mark him off the list since he didn't seem to be responding to any of my questions in a way to say we spent any time together apart from the group.

Just as we split up to go to our cubicles he added, "Of course, if you would like a repeat of what happened between us when you are aware enough to remember, I'd be glad to oblige." Then he walked away leaving me there with my jaw handing open. Did that mean the dancing and flirting or did he mean he took me home and took advantage of just how drunk I was?

As far as I was concerned all men were uncommunicative jerks. These guys were obviously intelligent, but were choosing to be obtuse in their comments to keep me on edge and in the dark. Lula's idea about hypnotism was looking better by the minute.


	5. Narrowing the Field

_JE created these wonderful characters. I'm shamelessly using them as my own._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you for getting excited over all my stories. I couldn't do this without your skillful Beta work._

**Chapter 5 – Narrowing the Field**

I managed to get a lot done with my inbox despite trying to keep my ears open to pick up on any little piece of gossip the guys might be sharing. It was hard to stay focused on what was in front of me and eavesdrop at the same time, but I think I pulled it off rather well. I am a girl from Jersey after all.

I heard someone call my name and spun around to see Bobby smiling at me. "Hey Bobby, what's up?" I asked him, curious why he would stop by.

"A few of us are going to Shorty's for lunch and I wondered if you wanted to join us?" He invited.

I looked up and saw it was already 12:30 so I jumped up, grabbed my purse and said, "Absolutely," before following him to the garage. There were a few guys already down there waiting so we could all head out together.

Les slung an arm over my shoulder and said, "Beautiful, I'm so glad you're here. I need some help with a delicate situation." His boyish grin told me he was probably up to no good.

"What's wrong, your date from last night is expecting you to call her again and you need a good excuse to say no?" I guessed. His grin doubled in size if that were possible, and I knew I had guessed it on the first try.

"You know, people are going to begin recognizing me because of how often my face is in the paper. You can't keep using me like this," I said trying to discourage him from asking me to pose as his one true love who finally decided to give him a chance to pursue a relationship. He would give all his dates a sob story about his broken heart and his unyielding wish that this girl would return to him one day. Les liked to have us go in where he picked up the woman de jour and have us act all lovey in front of the poor girl he was trying to blow off so that she would get the message and quit expecting a return call. It was a complete lie, but Les argued it was kinder than telling them he was just using them for sex.

"Come on, it will only take five minutes on the way back from Shorty's and then she'll leave me alone." He gave me a pleading look complete with big sad emerald eyes and a slight pouty lip; a combination I found impossible to say no to.

"Okay, I'll do it this time, but you've got to come up with a better way of breaking it off with these girls because I can't keep doing this." I told him firmly, knowing full well he would ask me again within the week.

Les placed a big wet kiss on my cheek and then called that he was riding shot gun with Bobby. Zip and Woody were in another SUV so I walked over and knocked on the passenger window. When Zip rolled it down I asked if they had room for one more and was promptly told to jump in.

The ride there was quiet except for the radio playing in the background. Woody was driving so it was a country music station. I didn't recognize the song, but the melody was beautiful and catchy. I knew I'd have it stuck in my head all day.

The five of us had a good lunch and spent most of the time laughing at Lester's exploits. Before I knew it, an hour had rolled by and I had thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my friends. As was usually the case when I went out with the guys they waved off my attempt to put any money towards lunch. Except for the fact they never ordered dessert, eating with the guys was just about perfect.

I was about to get back in the SUV with Zip and Woody but Les pulled my arm and reminded me I promised to help him out. Bobby agreed to ride in my place and I jumped in beside Les to head over to deli next to the courthouse to break a young girl's heart.

He parked a block away from the entrance, came around to my side and opened my door before taking my hand and holding it as we walked in. We walked up to the counter where several people were ahead of us in line. Les stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me to him and began to whisper in my ear. To an observer it would look very much like we were in love and he was whispering sweet nothings. In fact, he was giving me a running commentary on all the other customers in the deli, making up their life stories on the spot. I was struggling not to laugh.

I could tell when his arms tightened around me that the current victim was now in the room so when a clerk approached us sending daggers my way, I knew it was my turn to help out a friend. I ordered several desserts from their impressive display and made sure to add, "We have a lot to celebrate, honey, so we are going to needs lots of cake." I could feel Les' chest shaking with laughter when I used a syrupy sweet voice in calling him honey.

When she rang us up Les stepped forward and paid for my sugar addiction and managed to tell her, "I'm sorry you found out like this, but this is my sweetheart I told you about, and when she came back to me I felt like I had to give us another chance." I could see her eyes melt at the romantic picture he was painting, making me a little more relaxed about eating the food she had boxed up for us. After he put his change away and handed me the box of goodies he took my hand and placed a soft kiss on my lips before leading us out to the truck. He didn't let the charade drop until we were approaching the truck and then he began laughing at how she fell for his trick.

While Les was busy enjoying his escape from another potential relationship I froze on the spot. Noticing I wasn't joining in his fun, Les asked what was wrong. "There's another rose," I told him pointing to the door on my side of the SUV. Tucked between the side mirror and the window was a matching red rose with a note hanging from it. The speed with which Les went from Don Juan to serious security expert would have been alarming had I not seen it before. He whipped out his cell phone and called someone requesting back up. Three minutes later Woody and Zip pulled up.

Les nodded at them and told them to get me back to Haywood while he waited for Cal and Hector to show up. I tried to protest that I didn't need to be shuttled away, but Les just gave me a look that said he wasn't going to bend. He rarely went against what I wanted so I decided to give in this time and just take the ride back with the guys. As we were pulling away I noticed a RangeMan van pull up so I knew he would have it sorted out quickly.

"How are you doing back there?" Zip asked, trying to be friendly.

"Just peachy," I replied with a little too much sarcasm in my voice.

Apparently they misinterpreted my mood and Zip began apologizing for them not protecting me better. Explaining, "You definitely shouldn't have gone with Lester to the courthouse today of all days." They were beating themselves up for not protecting me from Jenkins' goons. Avoiding the one place where we all knew they would be should have been obvious.

I blocked out the rest of what he was saying and just concentrated on his smooth and silky voice. He could easily be a disk jockey. His voice was hypnotic and soothing and I smiled at the idea that he could probably calm a fussy baby to sleep. Realizing this thought wasn't getting me anywhere productive; I shook my head and interrupted.

"Guy's I'm angry that these creeps won't leave me alone. If you'd tried to talk me out of going to the deli, I would have gotten irritated at being told what to do and I probably would have done it anyway. There is no way this is your fault. All the blame goes to Jenkins and whoever he has doing his dirty work." I quickly spit out.

They both visibly relaxed which I found humorous. Big bad military men were getting anxious over potentially upsetting a little white girl from the Burg. Maybe Ranger was right about me, what I don't have in strength, I more than make up for in power.

When we got back to the garage Zip's phone rang so he answered it and began talking in rapid Spanish, effectively excluding me from listening in. Woody came around to where I was standing and looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to begin. He was so cute, dressed for danger yet almost nervous. I finally decided to help him out and asked, "Whatever it is you should just say it. I won't get mad."

He blushed, realizing I knew he was afraid to talk to me. "How are you doing?" He blurted out.

I figured that was a pretty straightforward question so I didn't think he meant it as a general check into my well being. Drawing a blank about what he was fishing for I asked for more information, "How am I doing with what, Jenkins?"

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, "That too, I guess."

Woody was a complete puzzle to me so I decided to just give him an answer of some sort and hoped it was what he was looking for. "I'm used to have a crazy of one form or another after me so I'm okay with being rushed from the deli so that the guys could process the note without me getting in the way. I'm pretty sure it says something about me if a stalker doesn't even worry me that much anymore."

"Why doesn't it worry you?" He wondered as we slowly started walking to the elevator.

"I've gone through this routine so many times and I've seen how good you guys are at finding the psycho that I trust you will get to the bottom of this one too." I explained, realizing just how much I trusted the men here.

"But what about the times we've let you down?" He asked.

I stopped walking and thought about what he asked. "I can't remember a time you all have let me down."

"What about Friday night?" He pressed.

"Friday night was the first time I'd done something fun in months. I could hardly be disappointed in you for that. Just because I was out of control and got so hammered I have no memory of what happened after the first few dances isn't your fault, it's mine." I said, curious if I should have admitted just how out of it I was.

His eyes met mine and he said, "I don't think most of us realized you'd had that much to drink. We knew you were feeling no pain, but I thought you paid for it the next morning with the benefit of having some fun memories to compensate for it."

"Oh, I definitely paid for it the next morning." I assured him, loving that he was smiling enough to show a single dimple on his right cheek.

Just as he was about to say something else Zip came barreling back out of the stairwell and announced, "We've got to roll, man. Our skip just showed up at Johnny's Bar on the South Side."

Effectively ending the conversation I waved to them both as they sprinted back to their SUV and squealed the tires getting out of the garage. I shook my head thinking how much the guys loved a good excuse to drive fast and headed back to my desk to do a little more work. It seemed I was effectively stuck here now since I had no car to drive home.

I got to work and was surprised when Tank sent me an e-mail asking if I could stop by his office when I got a chance. I jumped up glad for any chance to stretch my legs and walked straight over to the biggest guy on staff. I knocked on his door and proceeded to walk right in.

"You know, most people wait until I tell them to enter," He laughed when I appeared in front of him.

"Yea, I don't have the training most of the guys have here. I'm more of a 'just jump right in and hope that my feminine charms will keep me out of trouble', kind of girl." I joked back.

Tank got up and shut his door which instantly made me nervous. "That's part of what I want to talk to you about."

"Should I be worried?" I asked him as he sat beside me in the other empty guest chair.

"No, not worried, but you may not like what I'm going to say either." He prepared me. "What's happening right now with Jenkins has made me do some thinking and I've decided you need to improve some of your skills."

I felt myself sit up a little straighter, "Are my searches not complete? Am I doing a bad job?" I couldn't bear the thought that he was disappointed in my work. I had just assumed the constant refilling of my inbox meant the guys trusted the searches I ran.

"There is nothing wrong with the work you are doing, but because you work here, in the office and occasionally in the field for RangeMan you are a target for any crazy that decides to take a liking to you or that wants to play out a little revenge for anything they think we've done to them. You are a walking target because of your association with us."

I sat back a little; at least I knew he wasn't upset with me. "What skills are we talking about?"

"I want Zip to take you to the range a few times to get you comfortable with your gun. I want Vince to work with you on picking locks and some general surveillance skills, and I want Woody to take you out driving so you can learn how to lose a tail, how to follow someone without being spotted, and how to identify when you're being followed."

"What, no hand to hand combat, drawn out exercise regime or diet restrictions?" I asked stopping myself before I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled at my sarcasm, "I'm more than glad to include that, but I figure a little work would go a long way in keeping you safe right now. If you finish working with the guys in these areas and want to learn some more I'll be glad to assign someone else to target any interests you have. But for right now, I'd feel better if I at least knew you were comfortable with these skills." He was serious by the end of his little speech and I realized he was my boss and could demand that I do this, but I felt he was asking me to do it out of concern for me. Tank was worried and I didn't want him to be anxious about me so I agreed to his plan.

"Just let me know when I need to be where, and I'll do my best," I told him with a half smile. I hated guns, thought I drove just fine, and had never been able to pick the lock on my handcuffs, no matter how much I tried. I wasn't thrilled about his plan, but I could at least recognize the wisdom of it. This would mostly likely not be my last stalker so it might come in handy to have a few more skills to protect myself so I wouldn't have to rely on my dumb luck so heavily.

By the time I sat back down, I was feeling much better about the whole training thing. It might even be fun. I should have known that when I got a little happy I should have been prepared for something to come along and snatch it away. Just as I was about to swing around to face my monitor, Lester walked over and knelt down in front of me with no trace of a smile on his face. Whatever he wanted to say to me I knew I wasn't going to like.

"Hey beautiful, I wanted to show you the letter that came along with the rose Jenkins sent," He began, holding out a small piece of paper for me to read.

"I have reason to believe I will be free in the next few days. I hope you've had that dress cleaned to get the filth of the other man off of it. Don't worry about setting a date for our reunion, I'll find you. In the meantime I have a few gifts ready to keep you on your toes."

"What does he mean, 'he has reason to believe he'll be free'?" I was confused. I was intentionally ignoring the rest of the message since I couldn't do anything about it right now anyway. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

"He refused to testify against the Bertucci's, but the Family's attorney has filed for a mistrial citing that Jenkins was coerced into testifying and that the cops inappropriately gathered some key information for the prosecution. The RangeMan attorney has been following the case and said it is very likely the mistrial will be granted and Jenkins will be released." Les explained, putting a sinking feeling in my stomach.

He pushed my hair to rest behind my shoulder to reveal more of my face. "Beautiful, is there anyway you would consider coming to stay here for a while? There may be empty apartments available, or you could bunk with one of us." I couldn't tell if he was joking about the bunking comment, but it made me smile just the same.

"I think as long as he's still in jail I want to stay at my apartment. If things begin to get out of control then I may take you up on your offer to come here." I said proud of myself for not getting angry at their attempt to make me move.

Les ran his hand over his lips silently. I thought he looked like he was debating over whether or not to push me any further right now. Wisely he decided to let it drop and looked at me and nodded his head. "Okay, but we'll talk about this again if there is another message that seems to be escalating things."

"Deal," I said with the sound of finality to my voice. "Now, who is stuck with the job of getting me home today?"

"That honor falls on Vince," Les told me standing up. "And the guys finished with your car so I'll check into where it is now, and when we can get it back to you."

He knew I didn't like being dependent on other people for rides to work, so I smiled at him for volunteering the information instead of making me have to ask. It was nice to have a friend who understood me.

Thirty minutes later Vince stopped by and asked if I was ready to roll. I grabbed my bag and followed him out. There was some Latin music playing in the background of his truck which made me think of dancing with Vince at the club. The moves he showed me on the dance floor convinced me he would be very talented in the bedroom as well. I finally shook my head trying to clear those types of thoughts.

Vince chucked and said, "You're going to shake something loose if you keep doing that."

"Sorry, sometimes my mind goes places it doesn't need to and I have to reset it." I offered as explanation for my strange behavior.

We got out together and after Vince declared my apartment safe I went in and walked over to the refrigerator hoping the food fairy had stopped by while I was working. Apparently I hadn't been good enough to warrant such an honor so I picked up a carrot and threw it in Rex's cage figuring at least one of us should have a nutritious meal.

Vince was standing there watching me so I turned around and looked at him noticing a little scar above his eye for the first time. My curiosity won out over social propriety and I asked how he got it.

His hand went up by instinct and touched it when he said, "I got a little hammered a few years ago and tried to make a move on a pretty girl sitting alone at the bar. Unfortunately, when her boyfriend came back he decided to fight first and ask question later so I got cut up a little when I was knocked down into some broken glass."

I smiled at the thought that I wasn't the only person who'd ever gotten drunk and done something stupid. Concerned I was offending him, I explained why I found his story humorous.

"Believe me, this one may have left a scar, but it is far from the only time I did something that stupid." He confessed. My phone rang so I turned to answer the call breaking eye contact with Vince.

The control room was calling to be sure I was the one who had opened the door. I growled when I realized I forgot to call. "I'll be so glad when this threat is over because I'm never going to remember to call you guys every time I open the door." I complained.

After I hung up, Vince moved closer and tugged on a curl. It was a common gesture with the guys much like an older brother would do to pick on their little sister, but the way his hand lingered felt less than platonic. "Hopefully, this will be over soon for a lot of reasons." He said looking me in the eye.

"Are you worried about me?" I asked, wondering where my bold streak suddenly came from.

"More now than ever," He answered immediately telling me the response was an honest one.

Before I had a chance to ask what he meant his phone rang and he told the caller he would be there in ten minutes. "Lock the door," He reminded me as he walked out.

I slid the chain and locked both dead bolts before laughing at the excessive security on my shabby apartment. Fortunately, I saw the post it note on the door and remembered to call the guys monitoring my place to let them know all was well. Maybe I could be taught after all.

The next morning was a grey overcast gloomy day. Just the type of day made for sleeping in and hiding from the world. I called Tank and told him to pull off any transportation for me, I was just going to lounge around and be lazy. He laughed and told me to have a good time. I left a message for Connie and Lula on Vinnie's machine. It had been slow at the bond's office anyway so I figured they could wait a couple of days for me to stop by again.

About 1:00 I heard a knock at my door and begrudgingly got up from my comfortable spot to look through the peep hole. A man was standing there holding a gift basket. It seemed harmless enough but then I remembered the threat from Jenkins' letter and wondered if this was a surprise from him. I called out to the person on the other side to just leave it at the door on the floor and picked up my cell phone calling the control room. I explained my dilemma and they said Les and Bobby were close by and could swing over in a few minutes.

True to their word, four minutes later there was a knock on my door and a very unhappy looking Lester on the other side. I opened the door and let them in. They brought the basket in with them and sat in on the table. I peeked in and saw it was filled with all my favorite things: peanut butter, olives, white bread, chocolate bars, Tasty Cakes, popcorn, and those little boxes of cereal designed for kids, but fun to eat as a snack. I had decided even if it was from Jenkins I was keeping it. My pantry was running low and I loved everything in there.

I could tell the guys weren't as happy about it as I was. Les lifted a white envelope and gave it to me to read. "Stephanie, I realize now that I have even more apologizing to do. Apparently I was drunk enough that I didn't recognize your true state. Not only did I take advantage of you like a complete jerk, but all the things I thought I expressed so well, you don't remember so I guess I need to start over. This is a small token since I know you are without wheels right now and you're probably running low on your favorite foods. I picked it all out myself and got them to deliver it so that you wouldn't feel awkward about seeing me. I hope you'll accept my apologies and give me the chance to open up to you again when we're both completely sober. In the meantime, everything here I like to eat too, just not necessarily in the same combinations that you enjoy. Maybe the next time we talk we can figure out some other things we have in common. X."

I knew the envelope had been sealed so the guys hadn't seen it. I gave it to Lester who read it and then slammed the paper on my table when he was finished. "This has gone on long enough. I'm going to find out who this is and I'm going to teach him a lesson."

"What are you talking about?" I asked getting defensive at the thought that Les felt he needed to interfere in my private life.

"First this guy let's you get so drunk you can't remember your evening out, then he takes complete advantage of you. He doesn't admit who he is like a man, and now he's trying to buy his way into your good graces." Les was building up an impressive head of steam over this. Bobby's mouth was hanging open apparently piecing together what happened to me after I left the club based on Lester's rant.

"I'll admit I'm not crazy about the fact that he's not identifying himself either, but maybe he's really embarrassed, like I believe you suggested before." I reminded him.

"Embarrassment is one thing, this...he needs to man up. You've got enough to worry about right now with the Jenkins shit. You don't need this too." Les argued.

I put a hand on Lester's lower arm hoping my touch would calm him down. Absentmindedly he placed his other hand on top of mine. "Les, I kind of enjoy the distraction. Right now I want something fun to think about instead of focusing on what Jenkins may or may not be planning. Don't do anything about this. I think he's going to tell me himself and I'd rather hear it from him than figure it out by seeing which of guys looks like he was hit by a truck."

Bobby laughed at my perception that Lester planned on beating the crap out of my anonymous suitor. Les looked at me to gauge how serious I was. "Can I at least threaten him a little?" Lester joked.

"Maybe later, but right now, I'm going to pop some of my new popcorn and watch Ghostbusters. You're welcome to stay," I offered, knowing they would refuse. None of the Merry Men understood my addiction to this movie.

"We need to roll," Bobby said first. "We just wanted to be sure you were alright."

They both began to walk toward the door and I could hear Bobby talking on his phone reporting that they were leaving now. Les turned back to me and drew me into a tight hug. "Don't worry, Beautiful. We'll be close by you until this is all resolved. You don't have to worry about a thing."

I knew he was trying to comfort me, but his words almost sounded like they were directed to himself just as directly. I gave him a minute to hold me before pulling back with a smile and a wave.

I threw the locks on my door again and practically skipped back to my gift basket to pull everything out. At the bottom I noticed another piece of paper that was red in color and folder over several times. I picked it up and opened it to read, "Just so you know, I didn't look at you as a girl to pick up for the night. I've wanted to get to know you for a couple of years now, but could never get up my courage to ask you out. I hope I haven't ruined any chance I have with you because after our night together I can't think about anything else. I'm sorry you can't remember it yourself because you were amazing and we seemed to be so good together. Maybe can try it again sometime soon, without all the other guys and the drinks though."

This note was handwritten in the same casual script as the letter I found on my pillow and the way the paper was folded made me wonder if he intended to include it at all. It's almost like this was his first letter, but he decided it said too much and so he folded it up instead of tearing it and it was somehow included by mistake. Something about his words touched me. I'll admit I did feel better knowing he wasn't looking at me as a one night stand, or a conquest he could mark as another notch on his belt. After reading his tender confession I was more intrigued and suddenly wanted to solve this mystery more than ever.

I hoped he would reveal himself soon. My words to Lester were true, I needed a distraction, but more than that, it would be nice to have someone around who thought of me as more than a little sister and that cared enough to risk acting on it.


	6. The Plot Thickens

_None of the characters are mine. JE created them and gets all the credit._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you for your enthusiasm over every chapter. I know the work of a Beta is often a thankless job, but I'm convinced my stories are so much better because of your hard work._

**Chapter 6 – The Plot Thickens**

I shouldn't have been surprised. Lester had warned me that it was highly probably, but for some reason when Tank called me in his office this morning to inform me that Jenkins had been released from jail, and Tony Bertucci as the defendant had been granted a mistrial I felt my knees give out and I had to sit down. My stomach began to churn and I wondered if the mini-box of Fruit Loops I had eaten at home had been a mistake.

Tank got quiet for a minute and when I looked up to see why he paused I could tell there was something else he wanted to tell me. "Whatever it is just spit it out. I'd rather get all the bad news at once than have to worry about what else is waiting on me."

"We just got a delivery for you downstairs," He seemed uncertain of what else to say.

I picked up a tissue and used it to blow my nose as a diversion to buy myself some time. "That's okay, I've had someone sending me little gifts lately, it's probably alright." I told him thinking of the basket of groceries from Monday, and the movies that mysteriously appeared on Wednesday. It was Friday now so another gift didn't seem that far out of the realm of possibility.

"No, Little Girl, this was definitely not the kind of gift you want to receive." He clarified, making me understand this was another gift from Jenkins.

"What was it?" I asked holding on to the cushion of the chair I was sitting in as though it could somehow soften the words Tank said.

His large, dark hand landed on my shoulder when he said, "It was a hamster cage with a red rose inside it along with a note."

"Rex!" I said standing up suddenly. "What did the note say?"

Tank realized I was trying very hard not to get hysterical so he answered me quickly, "It said, 'I like the idea of you as my pet, but I don't want there to be any other men in your life.'"

My breakfast began to move and I ran as fast as my legs would take me to the bathroom down the hall. I didn't bother to knock first, and ended up scaring poor Hal who was standing at a urinal at the wall. He zipped up quickly and high tailed it out the door. Just as I thought would happen, everything I'd eaten reappeared in Technicolor. I flushed it away and slid down on the floor feeling spent.

The door opened gently and Les came in slowly approaching me. "You alright?"

I nodded even though it wasn't true. I felt the need to convince myself that I would be.

"Junior is at your place right now. He said Rex was fine and he's picking him up to bring him over here for a while. He can stay in my apartment or he can hang out in the control room. Where ever you think he'll be comfortable." He was being so sweet in thinking about what would make me happy.

"Thank you," I said pulling myself up and going over to the sink to rinse out my mouth and wash my hands.

"Would now be a good time to talk about you moving to Haywood?" He pressed.

I shook my head no. Something about this had pissed me off. This idiot had taken away my sense of security by threatening something dear to me. I refused leave my home because some grease ball was threatening me.

"Not yet. I want Rex somewhere safe, but I don't want to move just because some idiot said boo." I explained, knowing Les wouldn't agree with me. He wanted me out of my apartment, but he didn't force the issue yet.

I felt a little better so I went back to my desk and waited for Junior to come in with Rex. When my furry companion appeared in my cubicle I talked to him for a few minutes trying to decide where he would be happiest. Woody walked by and heard me asking where he wanted to live and interrupted my hamster – mommy moment by saying, "He should go in the break room on the empty microwave cart. He would get lots of company and we could keep an eye on him when you aren't here."

I had to admit it was a good suggestion. Beside, Rex was used to living in a kitchen, so maybe the noise and smells would be comforting. I decided Woody was right and I thanked him for his suggestion. "Glad to help," He said with another of his trademark smiles showing off his dimple.

I set Rex up in his temporary home and went back to work. By 5:00 I was exhausted and ready to go home so I stopped by the control room to inform them I was heading back to my apartment. I promised to call when I was all locked up. Thankfully my car was waiting in the parking lot so I was able to drive myself home instead of depending on one of the guys to take care of me.

I got to my apartment, locked all my locks, called the control room to check in with 'Big Brother' and then heated up some leftovers my mom had sent home with me last night. At least I had a good meal to look forward to. I was amazed at how quiet the apartment was without Rex in it. He wasn't exactly a good conversationalist but he was great company and right now I wished I had some. I hadn't gotten a package from" X" today and if I were honest, I was disappointed.

He had no reason to send me one, but I was expecting it just the same. The movies he sent over on Wednesday were old, mainly black and white, classics. I had only seen a couple, but I was at least familiar with the stars in all of them. His note on the box said that these were some of his favorites. Since he knew I liked to veg out and watch movies he hoped I might enjoy them too.

Whoever it was seemed to be trying to let me know him without coming right out and introducing himself. In some ways I liked it better. He was revealing himself so that I could get to know him now. This way when the time came and I finally figured out who it was I would know enough about him to decide if I wanted to pursue anything other than a friendship.

I decided to put in one of the movies and eat on the couch. It was a Katherine Hepburn romantic comedy called Desk Set. I laughed out loud at the thought of one of the tough guys liking romantic comedies, but ten minutes into the movie, I was hooked and eager to see what would happen next.

I watched the whole thing, loving every minute of it. Thinking all his selections would be this good; I slipped out the DVD and put in another one. This time it was a John Wayne Western, but I decided to forego my preconceptions and give it a try. It was a little slower, but I was still interested. Unfortunately the rough day began to catch up with me and I fell asleep on my sofa with it playing in the background.

When I woke up there was the DVD icon bouncing on the screen telling me I'd been out for a while. The apartment was dark and still, but something didn't feel right. I wondered what made me wake up. The last time I feel asleep watching a movie I stayed that way until the sun came up. I reached out and turned on a lamp and looked around the den. Everything looked normal so I figured I was just paranoid since I'd gotten that letter from Jenkins this morning. I grabbed my cell phone from the coffee table intending to take it in the bathroom with me.

I didn't usually feel the need to keep a phone on me at all times, but had a tingly feeling on the back of my neck that was making me nervous. I went in the bathroom without turning on anymore lights and took care of my most pressing needs. I was just about to brush my teeth when I heard a noise at the front door. Assuming it was one of the neighbors coming home late I ignored it and turned back to face the mirror.

That nagging feeling of doom was only growing stronger so I sat down my toothbrush and went in my bedroom only to see everything was exactly as I left it. I took a deep breath telling myself I was just being silly when I heard a horrible cracking sound coming from my front door. I peaked around the doorway into the hall and realized someone was using a saw to breakthrough the door without opening it. Like they knew if they kicked it in the alarm would go off, but as long as it stayed shut and they came through the middle they would enter without RangeMan responding.

I ran into my bedroom, shoved my feet in my boots and opened the window beside my bed. I tried to be quiet but they were making enough noise in the front hall that I didn't think anyone would notice me. I made my way down the fire escape and then grabbed my phone from where I'd clipped it to my pants and speed dialed Lester.

It had to be 2:00 in the morning, so I hated to wake him up, but when he answered, "Yo," with his gravely bedroom voice I knew he was definitely not asleep, and that I had most certainly interrupted something.

"Les, I'm sorry," I said already out of breath from running across the back lot to the street. "Someone is trying to get in my apartment. I ran down the fire escape and now I'm heading down Donnelly Street. I should have called the control room, I'm so sorry." I couldn't believe I'd interrupted his evening to beg for help. I don't know why I called him instead of the control room.

His voice cut through my mental irritation and said, "Steph, go to the convenience store at the corner and wait for me there. I'll call control and have them send someone to your place to see what's happening. I'll find you in ten minutes." He promised before hanging up.

What was it with the ten minute rule with these guys? It's like they could get anywhere in 600 seconds or less. I transitioned from a run, to a jog and then gave up and slowed to a walk making my way to the store as he instructed. When I heard the bells ring as I opened the door I realized I'd left without my pocketbook so I had no money. Here I was surrounded by the food I most needed in the candy isle and I had no money to get anything while I waited.

Fortunately, Les and Bobby arrived pretty quickly making me wonder if I had ruined two dates or just one. They both came jogging into the store and each put a hand around one of my arms escorting me to the Explorer still running in the lot.

No one said a word until we were a couple of minutes from the store. Bobby was in the passenger seat and he twisted around to look at me and ask if I was alright.

I nodded, not ready to talk about it.

When we got back to Haywood the guys surrounded me again and walked me to the elevator where Les pressed the number four.

I didn't feel like asking where he was taking me. When he unlocked his own apartment, I obediently followed him through the door and didn't question a thing when he shut the door leaving Bobby in the hall. Les pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly to him. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go home today. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it."

He was blaming himself for what happened at my apartment. As though it were possible to prevent the bad stuff that seems to follow me like the plague. "Les, stop!" I said as forcefully as I could mange. You have to quit this and stop trying to protect me from everything."

"But I have to keep you safe, Stephanie." He said quietly not releasing his grip on me at all.

"Why?" I asked. I'd always wondered why he seemed to take our friendship so seriously when he had no trouble mistreating so many other women.

"Because you're what makes me okay," He admitted still confusing me. I decided to wait and see if he would elaborate anymore.

Les' grip on me eventually began to lighten and he took my hand and pulled me over to the sofa sitting me in his lap. We'd sat this way plenty of times before and there was absolutely nothing sexual about it. His hand continued to rub up and down my back more out of habit than the intent to soothe.

"I'm not relationship material." He tried to tell me. My head jerked up with my eyes narrowing at his choice of words. After having Ranger tell me the same thing it was sort of a sensitive area. He pushed my head back down and kept talking.

"I can't open up and tell a woman all about my past. Hell, I can't even tell her my hopes and dreams for the future because I doubt I have much of one. I always figured I'd die on some screwed up mission someone in a jungle, never to be seen or heard from again. I'm okay with that, it was the consequence of the choices I made for my life and I accepted it. But a few months ago when Ranger left I realized you were missing and I went over to check on you. Hell, you were seriously on your way to being shit faced and you were so fragile and broken looking. I picked you up and eventually talked you into surrendering your beer."

"I remember that day," I interrupted. "You told me, beer was not a part of the breakfast of champions and I had to give it up."

He smiled at my memory. "You sat with me on the couch and you moved closer and closer to me so that your head ended up in my lap with you talking about how no one wanted you."

I didn't remember being quite that bad so I said, "How pathetic was I?"

"You weren't pathetic. You were upset and you were confused. You thought no body wanted you because there was something wrong with you, but you refused to change to please someone else. You were determined to be yourself no matter what anyone else thought. When you fell asleep in my lap I realized I admired you. You'd been dealt a hard hand, but you weren't going to give up and do the easy thing of becoming a pushover wife for Morelli, or a warrior queen to show Ranger you could accept his lifestyle. You were convinced that who you were was alright and I agreed with you whole heartedly. I pledged to myself that day I would look out for you. There isn't much worth fighting for in this world so when you find something pure and good you have to hold onto it." He finished his explanation.

I shook my head a little. I heard his words, but it didn't make much sense to me. "Les, you're talking about me here, not the Virgin Mary. I'm far from pure and good."

I felt the chuckle in his chest. "Don't I know that," He said making he smack his chest playfully. "I know you have faults, but there is something about you that is accepting and tender that just pulls everyone to you. But it's the fact that you will occasionally let loose with a tantrum that rivals a lot of sailors I've heard and the way you refuse to let someone else tell you what to do, that really draws me to you. I like to think if my life had been different I might have been more like you."

I smiled thinking about a masculine version of myself. "I don't know Les, I can't picture me being the ladies man that you are."

Ever the jokester he replied, "Ah, but the thought of you trying your hand with another woman is enough to keep me awake at night." We both laughed before he continued, "Seriously, I've never had a friendship like the one I have with you. I mean, I'm tight with Tank and Bobby and Ranger, but we have a long history and we share the same secrets. I trust them with my life, but I don't know if our friendship is any deeper than that. But with you, I get the feeling you know me better than any of them, and I like that. I don't want to date you or screw you because it would ruin what we have and this is the longest relationship I've ever had with a woman."

I looked at him for a few minutes and wasn't the least bit surprised when he added, "Okay, maybe I would like to have sex with you, but only because you are one hot woman. I wouldn't act on it because you are too important. Of course, if you ever want to try something, I'd be willing to take that risk if it was something you really wanted." Thankfully his joking side was back. I knew how to deal with Les better when he was like this. I struggled when he was too serious for too long.

"Thanks for telling me how you feel. I know you guys hate talking about anything that doesn't include weapons or speed. And I understand what you mean about liking what we have. I need someone who is in my corner because they know me and like me, not because they want something physical from me." I told him feeling the truth of my words as they came out of my mouth.

"So we are friends forever and if it comes down to it we'll discuss the benefits part later?" He asked wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

Before I could comment both our cell phones rang alerting us to incoming messages. We stood up having been summoned to the same meeting on five.

I walked in and sat down next to Tank seeing some photos on the table. I realized they were of my apartment which had been completely trashed. The door had a huge hole splintered in it and spray painted on the wall was the words, "Why did you run, we could have had fun?" I did notice lying out on the floor was the dress I'd had on a couple weeks ago for Jenkins' distraction. I guess that means he had been through my closet handling my clothes. Arggh! Now I'd have to have them all cleaned and washed before I could wear them to get all the mafia grease ball cooties off of them.

I was overwhelmed with a feeling of exhaustion and put my head on my arms on the table in front of me. I felt a couple of hands on my back and shoulder telling me more than one person was trying to be a comfort. I looked up at Tank and said, "Tell me there is way for us to get this guy."

"You know there is, but we may have to be patient. After our guys finished going through we called the TPD to let their lab process the scene as well. We need to have a documented case so the police can get a warrant for Jenkins' arrest. We can pick him up then or the police can, either way he goes back to jail." Tank informed me with that expression that meant there was more.

"So what's the bad news?" I prompted him.

"As you know, just because Jenkins is behind bars doesn't mean he is without supporters to do his dirty work. If he's arrested again, it might make him mad enough to order someone to do something more intense than just dropping off presents for you. He might decide to move in for revenge." Tank warned me sounding very somber.

"So what do I do in the meantime?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"I've got some of the guys there with the police and after the scene is processed they will gather some clothes and things for you to stay here. I'll move some guys around to free up an apartment on four for you to use until we figure out our next move." He instructed.

"Don't do that," I told him.

"What?" Tank inquired.

"Don't move anybody out of their apartment. I can sleep on Lester's couch." I said wondering if that was okay with him. When I glanced at him his face was serious but the nod of his head told me he wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, after the discussion earlier this evening I felt safe around him. And until I knew who my mystery guy was from a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't risk being in an apartment by myself where they might feel free to come in pick up where we left off. That thought made me shiver. Maybe I should have left my mouth shut and taken the single apartment. None of the showers here had massaging heads. If we didn't find out how to neutralize the Bertucci threat I was looking at a dry spell unlike anything I'd ever had before. That 'benefit' discussion with Lester might happen sooner than I'd originally thought possible.

Tank rattled out some instructions to some of the guys including surveillance on my apartment, looking into the Bertucci family business to see if there was a way to apply a little pressure to make them back off. Tank also mentioned calling Ranger because he said they'd had a run in with this family a few years back and somehow Ranger had made it all go away. He thought we could use his advice and as much as I thought it would break my heart to see him again, I knew Tank was right. Ranger specialized in impossible situations and he had never let me down.

After that everyone was dismissed and a few of the guys came by to tell me they were sorry about what had happened, or to praise me for my quick thinking in getting out. I smiled at them, but my heart wasn't in it. Les took my hand after everyone left and said, "Don't worry, he'll probably tell Tank what to do instead of coming back right now. Let's get you settled in downstairs."

I followed him to his apartment and sat on the end of his bed while he looked through his drawers pulling out some things I could wear temporarily until the guys got back with my personal stuff. He was just finishing up telling me to make myself at home when there was a knock at the door. Woody and Zip were there with a few duffle bags and boxes.

Zip spoke first in his silky voice that went straight between my legs. "This is all we could get out today. Most of the clothes were from your dresser which didn't seem to be disturbed at all." He shook his head before adding, "I thought I was prepared for it, but after packing the top two drawers I don't think I'll ever be the same."

I threw a soft punch at his shoulder because those drawers were where I kept all my lingerie. He smiled before tugging a curl and walking out.

Woody sat down the boxes in his hands and said, "I tried to salvage as much of your stuff as I could from the den and the kitchen, but they did a good job of tearing it all up. If there is something in particular you want I'll be glad to go back and look for it tomorrow." He told me before pulling me to him in a warm hug. The way he put a hand at my waist to hold me against him and then ran his other hand under my hair to rub my neck almost made my knees give out. He gave a little extra squeeze before letting me go. I stood there slightly stunned for a minute thinking about how familiar his arms felt and then remembered that was how he held me when we danced. I remembered liking it at the club, and feeling it a second time, I liked it even more. Something about the lazy circles of his thumb on my neck was very intimate and such a turn on I suddenly wondered if I should take a cold shower.

Les said he was going to go back to five to do a little work and would sleep on the couch tonight. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead and wished me a good night.

I started looking through the boxes and was relieved to see most of my DVD collection was here, including Ghostbusters. It may not seem like much, but I needed to know the things that had gotten me through the worst times in my life were still there for me.

At the bottom of the first box was a square package wrapped in red paper. I had no memory of this so I grabbed it next and tore the paper off. Inside was a book and a note handwritten on red paper. I read the note first.

"I know are going through a lot right now, so I thought you might enjoy a book to take your mind off everything. This was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. You probably read it then too, but I'm hoping you'll enjoy it just as much now. I'm proud of how you are handling everything and I hope you would tell us if there was anything else we could do for you. I know you're independent, but sometimes reaching out for help is a sign of strength. X"

I flipped the book over and saw it was a copy of The Black Stallion. I remembered seeing the movie as a kid, but I don't think I'd ever read it. I smiled at his comment that it was a favorite of his when he was young. Sometimes I spent so much time staring at their manly bodies I forgot they all used to be awkward little boys at one point. I took the note and the book to bed with me and sat it on the nightstand. I couldn't stay awake any longer, but I liked the idea of having it close to me.

The next morning I woke up and opened one eye to see the sun was streaming in the apartment. Apparently I'd slept in as these windows were more western facing so it had to be close to noon or later to be so bright. I smiled at the idea of having slept so long but when I stretched to move my muscles after such a long period of disuse I reconnected the communication between my bladder and my brain and had to jump up quickly and run to the bathroom.

Of course that turned out to be a mistake on several levels. First I didn't have time to throw on any clothes which meant I was streaking through the den in one of Lester's big Army t-shirts and a pair of panties. I didn't have a chance to worry about that as my stomach decided to jump into my throat. I didn't get sick but I felt off making me worried that I was picking up a bug of some sort.

While I was in the bathroom I took care of Mother Nature and then brushed my teeth and ran my fingers through my hair. I knew Les had seen me scarier than this so I didn't try to make it fully presentable. I needed to go out and sort through the bags the guys brought last night in order to find some of my own clothes to change into after a nice long shower. I heard the door close making me wonder if that was Les coming in or leaving.

I peeked out of the bathroom and heard him calling my name from the kitchen so I stepped out and went to where I thought he was. He must have used his RangeMan super powers to sense my presence as he began talking without me making a sound to alert him I was there.

"I'm so glad you decided to join us. I had lunch with the guys at Pino's and picked up a sub for you. I figured since you skipped breakfast you'd be pretty hungry. When he turned around he had unwrapped the sandwich and put in on a plate for me. The smell of the sauce and the cheese hit my nose making me smile at first, but once I got a full whiff I realized it was a mistake. I had to sit the plate down hard on the counter and run back into the bathroom falling in front of the toilet barely in time to empty my stomach of what little there was in there.

Les waited until I sat down on the floor and flushed the toilet before coming in and saying, "We've got to stop meeting like this, I'm going to get a complex that you find me sickening."

I grunted at his attempt at humor concerning him enough to kneel down and look at me carefully. "What's wrong, Steph, are you sick?" He asked, pushing my hair back and placing his hand on my forehead as a human thermometer.

Apparently he was satisfied that I didn't have a fever so he asked again how I felt.

"Tired," I replied honestly. "I think I'm going back to bed, I'll try to start this day over again later."

Lester offered his hand to help me get up and once I stood and got my eyes to focus again I made my way back to his bed and collapsed immediately. "I'm sorry to take over your room," I told him worried that he might regret letting me crash here.

He pulled the covers up over me and tucked them around me the way my mom used to. He kissed my hair and told me sleep, promising to check up on me later. I knew he didn't walk away immediately and when I opened my eyes enough to see what he was doing I noticed he was looking at the book and note from last night. His face was hard and he was flexing his jaw. I recognized this side of him as the Lester that came out before he did missions, or went in to capture a dangerous skip. This was his bad ass persona and it looked like he was calculating a plan while standing there frozen next to the bed.

"You okay?" I asked concerned about what was happening.

His eyes softened slightly when he looked at me. He kissed my hair once more and told me to sleep. "I'll be gone for a little while, because I have to teach a lesson to someone that hurt one of my friends. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you."

I didn't have a chance to ask who the friend was that had been hurt. I shut my eyes but then startled awake with the idea that maybe Les was taking this whole stalker mess into his own hands thinking I was worried sick over what was happening. I picked up my cell phone and called Tank.

"Yo," Came his deep voice.

"Tank, it's Steph," I began only to have him interrupt to ask what he could do for me.

"Les just left his apartment and he was acting weird saying something about needing to teach a lesson to someone who had hurt one of his friends. I'm afraid he is going to try and take this Bertucci mess into his own hands because I got sick this morning when I woke up." I spit out my concern as quickly as possible.

There was a minute of silence. "I'll keep an eye on him and if it looks like he's going to do something stupid I'll step in," He promised. I could hear his big fingers banging away on his keyboard and I assumed he was brining up the security feeds from the building, checking to see where Les was. Then Tank added, "You can rest easy for now, he's just stepped into the gym. Maybe he'll burn off some frustration and then he'll approach this with a more level head."

I thanked him for checking and went straight to sleep.

When I woke up the next time I slowly sat up wondering if my stomach would revolt once again. Feeling okay so far I got up and went out to the kitchen. All traces of the Pino's sub were gone for which I was truly thankful. It was the thought that counted, but I was glad not to have to test my stomach again so soon. I dug around in Lester's kitchen and came up with a box of Cheerios. Not finding much else that sounded good I poured a bowl and began munching, amazed at how much better I felt with every bite. I guess the stress of everything had finally gotten to me.

After my late lunch I took a shower and got dressed in some jeans and a t-shirt, thankful that my dresser had been undisturbed so that I didn't have to worry about washing the cooties off my clothes first. I moved my clothes into the bedroom and put the bathroom necessities on Les' counter. I held a box of tampons in my hand and briefly considered putting them next to the sink just to scare him, but decided to put them in the cabinet underneath, well hidden in the back. I'd need them any day now, but I didn't want to advertise that fact.

I finished going through the other items just as Lester walked in drenched in sweat with his shirt hanging around his neck and his gym shorts hanging dangerously low on his hips. I noticed his jaw had a bruise forming which made me look closely at the rest of him. His right hand knuckles were scraped and his left arm was bruised as though he'd used it to block a lot of punches.

I ran over to my friend and threw my arms around his neck to show him how I felt about him while I asked accusingly. "Les, What have you done?"


	7. X

_I am merely borrowing from JE's creative genius._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you so much for your dedicated beta work. You are just…wow!_

**Chapter 7 – X**

I asked, "What have you done?"

Les slowly let out a long breath, as though he were trying to calm himself to admit to something he knew I wasn't going to like.

I finally pulled away convinced that as long as I was hugging him he wasn't going to talk. Les made eye contact with me but held it only briefly before looking down again. Yep, whatever he had to say, I knew I wasn't going to like.

I decided there wouldn't be anything wrong with staying in denial land for a little longer and sent Les into the bathroom to take a shower. I stretched out on the couch and shut my eyes just for a minute. Of course I fell asleep and went almost immediately into one of favorite dreams. The mystery man in black was in my apartment. I was pressed against the wall and he asked me if I was sure, which of course I was. I'd had this part of the dream so many times I was convinced it was a memory and not just a figment of my imagination. But this time instead of jumping to us in the bed, the memory continued and I felt him kissing my neck before he shifted so that one hand was around my back supporting my hips to help me hang on to him with my legs. The other hand he moved under my hair and began to rub lightly on my neck as he walked us down the hall to my bedroom.

I startled awake and sat up quickly only to see Les standing over me with a curious expression on his face. "Any chance you'll tell me what you were dreaming about?" He asked as a grin spread across his lips.

"I don't know if I was dreaming or remembering. I'm hoping it's the later." I told him trying to clear my head of the sensuous thoughts that had just been there. "Now quit stalling and tell me why you look like you've been beating the shit out of someone."

Les looked away for a minute before he sat on the floor and leaned his back against the couch where I was still stretched out. "I look that way because that's what I was doing." He finally admitted.

"Who?" I asked but quickly followed it up with "Why?"

"I realized who it was that took you home a few weeks ago and when I saw he was continuing to give you gifts, but he still hadn't manned up and told you who he was I got pissed off. He isn't treating you right and I just wanted to point that out to him. If he doesn't have the balls to tell you the truth about that night, then he doesn't deserve you at all." Les explained.

"Do you think he's learned his lesson?" I asked letting my finger tips trace the bruise on his jaw.

"I think so, but he seems to think he knows what he's doing and tried to tell me it was none of my business." Les answered.

"What explanation did he give for not telling me?" I wondered.

"He said when he realized you really didn't remember he didn't want there to be any awkwardness between you especially while you were dealing with the Jenkins' shit. He said he was trying to let you get to know him with the presents." Les shook his head when he said, "He hit me in the jaw when I told him where I come from a woman who accepts bribes to have sex with a man is called a whore and I wouldn't sit by and watch him try to take advantage of you that way."

I appreciated the point Les was trying to make, but I hated the term he threw around. "Les, I don't think that his gifts were meant to impress me or buy my services. I think they were really a way for him to show me who he was without coming right out and saying it."

"Well I don't like it," Les grumbled, making him sound like he was about eight and had his favorite toy taken away.

"So you charged to the playground to beat up the guy who you thought was disrespecting me?" I clarified.

He turned his neck and looked at me, "I guess I did, but it didn't sound so junior high when the idea came into my head."

I moved down so that I could put my arms around his neck and hug him. "That was a very sweet thing to do," I told him. Then I tightened my arms as much as I could, effectively putting him in an uncomfortable headlock and adding, "But the next time you decide to go out and beat up someone on my behalf, you better talk to me first."

"Yes ma'am," He answered before I let him go.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, thinking we'd probably gotten all the mileage out of that discussion that we could.

"Yea, I'm good," He replied.

"How about the guy you attacked?" I pressed.

"About the same as me," He answered with a smile. "Do you want to know who it is?"

I thought about it for a minute. I had begun to narrow down my list from four: Vince, Junior, Zip and Woody to only two and after that dream on the couch I wondered if I could guess at the one. I realized Les was waiting on an answer so I said, "No, I think when I see him I'll have my answer." From the looks of Lester's knuckles I figured the guy would have at least one or two bruises on his face that would make it pretty easy to tell who'd been in a fight. And if there was a sudden influx of Merry Men with bruised faces then I would pull the video feed from the gym since that's where Tank said he went. The idea of watching Les and another guy fight over me made me want to pull up the feed now just to watch it. I had a feeling it would be hot enough to get my hormones racing. On second thought as long as I was sharing an apartment with Les I better not do anything to get my hormones going.

Les called my name and when I looked at him he was smiling again and asked, "Where did you go?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned him, hoping if I was defensive enough he wouldn't make me tell him about the image in my head.

"I don't know, your eyes glazed over and your face got flushed," He explained before asking me again if I felt alright.

I was about to tell him I was just fine but someone knocked on the door so Les jumped up to answer it.

I could hear voices speaking at a low level but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I sat up and decided that maybe I should give them a little privacy. Obviously they didn't want me to hear whatever they were discussing, so I was going to sneak back into the bedroom quietly. Just as I stood up, I heard a familiar deep voice say, "You two need to squash this shit soon."

What was Zip talking about? I tried to hear Les' response but all I could hear was him mumbling something in disgust.

Zip then asked, "You two aren't going to go at it again are you?" I then realized that whoever Les went after in the gym was standing out there too and I figured that the only reason they wouldn't want me to hear their conversation was because it was about me and that sent me into rhino mode. I walked straight to the door and said, "No, they aren't going to go at it again. Are you?" I challenged. Too bad I couldn't do the one eyebrow raise, or I'd add that in too, instead I shifted my weight, cocked my one hip and crossed my arms.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling when they both took on the appearance of school boys being scolded by the teacher. Zip was standing behind them in the hall and didn't even try to stop himself from laughing. "Man you guys should see yourselves right now. She totally busted your asses." He walked on down the hallway going into Spanish so that I could no longer understand what he found so humorous about the situation.

"Why don't you both come in and sit down before we start to draw attention from the other guys?" Les suggested and stepped aside so that our guest could enter, but instead of following us to the den he softly touched my arm to get my attention and told me, "I'm going to check in with Tank on five and give the two of you a chance to talk. I need to apologize to the big guy for the scene in the gym and I think this clown wants a few minutes alone with you."

Then he raised his voice louder than normal to say, "But I'll be back in half an hour so don't let him get any ideas about you guys having the place to yourself." I realized that was not being said for my benefit and let it go.

When the door shut I turned back to the den and sat down on the opposite corner of the couch from where he was seated.

After there was complete silence for a few minutes I decided to say something, "Les said you wanted to talk to me."

That seemed to be all it took to break the dam of words for him and he began talking, "Stephanie, I'm so sorry for how I've treated you these last two weeks. It's just I'm not really good with talking – I always seem to say the wrong thing and I didn't want to say something stupid and have you tell me to get out and not give me another chance."

Then he jumped up and started pacing, "That Friday night, I was so happy to be able to dance with you, and honestly that is all I expected to happen. Being able to hold you in my arms for a couple of songs was beyond incredible and I let myself relax and celebrate it with a few drinks. Of course, when I drink I tend to get a little bold so I started to tell you things I never could have said sober, and you seemed so interested in listening to me."

"I'm always interested in listening to you, but I don't remember what you told me. Is there anyway you could tell me again now?" I hoped.

He turned a little redder and sat back down on the couch, "Well, I told you that I'd had feelings for you for a long time now, but I never said anything because you had Ranger or Joe and I figured you didn't have any interest in someone like me. But I stuck around and I had watched you as often as I could and you had impressed me with your resourcefulness and your quick mind. I was drawn to you and even if I couldn't ask you out, I had to be close to you so every time there was a chance for Bomber duty I volunteered in the hope of learning more about you."

Then he turned to look at me, "When I told you all of that you touched my face and you told me no one had ever said something like that to you before and you thanked me."

"I'm glad I did, that was a very sweet thing to say. No one has said something like that about me before.," So far I didn't see where my drunk self was all that different from me right now.

"And then you grabbed my hand and pulled me back out on the dance floor." He told me concerning me a little if I was the one taking the initiative. "We danced for nearly half an hour. It didn't matter if the song was fast or slow you wanted my arms around you and my hand on your neck. I was more than happy to oblige because I loved how close it made us."

He stood up again causing me to worry about what he was going to say next. "About 2:00 you asked if I could give you a ride home. I'd had a bit too much to drink so I called us a cab and we let him drive us to your apartment. When the cab driver stopped and asked if I wanted him to wait, you very loudly told him no and paid him before I could even get my wallet out. You did let me check your apartment when we first walked in but when I came back to the den you were still standing against the front door so I walked over to you and you grabbed me and kissed me with such intensity I couldn't control myself. I kissed you back. I knew you were drunk and I took advantage of the fact by kissing you back."

"From the sound of things you did exactly what I wanted you to do," I assured him, hoping he would keep telling the story. I was more than hooked at this point.

"Well, I leaned into you and you put a leg around my waist so I asked if you were sure and you yelled out 'God yes' so I kissed you for a while longer before wrapping my arm around your back and putting my hand on your neck under your hair. Somehow I managed to get us back to your bedroom without falling over. We must have spent thirty minutes just making out on your bed. As far as I was concerned the night was perfect and so much more than I had ever dreamed of. I almost thought you were going to go to sleep, but you pulled away from me at some point and said there were too many clothes. You started pulling my shirt off but I stopped you to ask if you were sure that it was what you wanted. Instead of answering right away you got up and untied your dress letting it fall to the floor leaving you in nothing but your red panties and God help me, I lost all control. You started crawling back up the mattress slowly and seductively and I couldn't take my eyes off of you. This time when you touched my shirt I helped you take it off so that we could be as close as possible."

At this point he sat back down almost as though his legs were too weak to hold him up.

"So we…" I stopped unable to ask what I so desperately wanted to know.

He startled me by putting his hand on top of mine in my lap. Then he knelt down on one knee in front of me to keep my attention. "We made love for a couple of hours which is why I didn't think you were are drunk as you must have been because I figured you would have passed out if you had been that intoxicated. But you were beautiful, and our bodies moved together perfectly. I can't describe it, but it was wonderful. You let me show you how I felt, how I have felt for so long and then you turned and opened yourself up just as much. When I left your apartment I felt like I could take on the world because I felt like after we connected like that physically I actually had a chance with you. I felt like you might want more from me than just that one night so I went off to work and tried to be low key so the guys wouldn't pick up on anything. Luckily most of them were hung over so no one paid me any attention. Like I said, I've never been a big talker."

I couldn't help myself; I lifted one hand and ran it lightly over the bruise forming on the side of his beautiful brown eyes. He was perfectly still as if her were afraid if he moved or leaned into my touch that he would break the spell of what was happening. Of course I had no idea exactly what was happening, but I felt like I could picture everything he described between us that night, some I had seen in my dreams, other things I just felt in my heart were right.

When my hand fell back into my lap he picked up his story. "I tried calling on Sunday but you didn't answer. I wasn't sure if you were out or just screening your calls so I didn't bother to leave a message. And, when I saw you in the office you acted like nothing was different between us which confused the shit out of me. I sent you the flowers to apologize in case you were mad about what happened since we had both had way too much to drink. And then I heard about Jenkins and how he had threatened you and I lost it. Man, when Zip told me about your meeting with the guys after you found that message on your machine I wanted to find that creep and rip his throat out with my bare hands. Zip told me to calm down and I just picked up the plates in the break room and threw them against the wall. Shit, when Ella came in and saw what I'd done, she gave me a broom and a dustpan and told me to get busy. Then she pulled me aside and told me if I was going to love you that I needed to learn to deal with this kind of thing because it wasn't that unusual in your life."

"Ain't that the truth," I interrupted, watching his single dimple reappear. At some point I would need to find out how Ella knew how he felt because I found it hard to believe hearing it from his mouth.

"So the next day in the break room I wanted to talk to you but Zip came in and I couldn't just come right out and ask if you were mad or avoiding me or something else. So I tried calling that night just to hear for myself that you were alright and that was when I began to wonder if you even remembered our night together. You seemed perfectly at ease talking to me, but you didn't mention anything that we had shared. Shit Steph, I was so confused. After Jenkins had threatened you at the courthouse I was determined to talk to you so I asked you about Friday night and you confirmed my suspicions that you really didn't remember a thing. At first it made me feel better because it meant that you weren't blowing me off, but then I realized what a complete ass I'd been by seducing you when you were drunk.

He put his thumb and middle finger on his temples and rubbed as though he were still haunted by that thought.

"You need to listen to me. I can tell you that when I'm drunk I tend to be loud, forward and uninhibited, but I am still myself. The people that I find unattractive when I'm sober I still find unattractive when I'm drunk. So any attraction that was there after the club was there in real life, I was just more demonstrative than I would normally be. You didn't do anything wrong that night. Trust me, anything we did was okay with me. Please don't beat yourself up over it." I tried to assure him.

His head lifted up and he said softly, "But afterward I didn't say anything about it to you. I thought you knew it was me at first which is why I didn't bother signing my name to the card because I didn't want the other guys to know unless you chose to tell them. Once I realized you didn't know either I couldn't' figure out the right thing to do. I decided to try and let you get to know me better so that you might want to go out with me. I figured that once you made a choice to go out with me or not, then I could tell you that I was the one that had brought you home from the club. It was a cowardly thing to do, and I hadn't looked at how cheap it might have made you feel by not taking up a little courage and being honest with you. I hadn't considered that you might be upset by my gifts. I never meant to imply that I was giving you tokens in exchange for what we shared."

I knew what he was referring to because Les had told me about his whore comment and I truly appreciated his avoidance of the word. I put my hand on his cheek to get his attention focused on me instead of the memory of what just happened between him and Les. "I understood what you were doing. I loved the notes and the presents. The food basket, the movies, and then the book last night. They were all perfect. To be honest I was honored that you were sharing yourself with me. No one else has ever taken the time to do that before. I could have gone back and talked to the other guys to find out what happened at the club, but I figured you would reveal yourself in time and I was willing to wait until you were ready." I explained my apparent lack of interest.

"So you weren't trying to be polite and ignore me in the hope that I would go away?" He asked unsure of himself.

I shook my head no slowly so that I could keep my eyes locked on him.

It was my turn to ask a question, "So you didn't leave Saturday morning because you wanted to avoid the awkward morning after routine?"

He mimicked my head movement to say no.

"You weren't ashamed of what we shared?" He wondered.

I said no but clarified, "I was embarrassed that I was too drunk to remember it because from the little bit I pieced together in my dreams and based on the hickies all over my body it looked like it had been a good time. I wish my memory was as clear as yours."

"Do you think it will come back to you?" He asked.

I smiled at him, "I don't know, but I doubt it, but maybe you could give me a little taste of what you described."

From his perch on the floor he began to lean forward and just as our lips met, I heard Les open the door to the apartment loudly and come straight in to the den.

We touched only long enough for me to feel the spark of electricity between us, but not enough to really begin to actively kiss. He hung his head when Les came in, and I just smiled when Les sat next to me on the couch.

"Well it looks like you finally found your voice and told the girl what happened," Les said in a tone that wasn't overly friendly.

"Is there any chance you might want to go out for dinner tonight? We could go to this place I know outside of town that has terrific food." He volunteered.

I was about to say yes, but Les interrupted, "She can't leave the building right now, there's a stalker after her with major mob connections. Are you trying to get her killed?" Les was past unfriendly and had jumped straight to accusatory.

"Lester!" I called out to get his attention focused back on me. "You don't get to pick what I can and cannot do."

Unfortunately, Les had already planted the seed of doubt in his mind so he changed his invitation, "No, he's right. Why don't I pick up dinner and bring it back here. You and I could eat in my apartment and then I can walk you back here after," He suggested in a very gentlemanly gesture.

Les rolled his eyes but I thought it was a great compromise. "I'd love that, what time should I come over?" I asked him.

"How about I come pick you up about 6:00?" He suggested, trying to make it seem more like a real date. It seemed that he was going through a lot of trouble just to have dinner with me and I loved the way it made me feel. No one had ever tried to make me feel treasured before.

Les chose that moment to put his two cents worth in and said, "Geez it's like being in high school all over again. Are you going to offer to carry her books?"

We both ignored him and I got up to walk him to the door. Just as he was about to walk through to the hall I called him back, "Hey Woody," He turned around so I continued. "Thank you for telling me what happened. I'm looking forward to making some memories I can hang onto this time."

He flashed my favorite single dimpled smile and said, "Me too Darlin."

I shut the door and leaned against it in the foyer. Shutting my eyes I let myself enjoy the feeling of having someone go through the effort of trying to show me how they felt. I pushed off and walked to the den and sat down next to my friend and my whole attitude changed as I said, "Do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

"What?" He asked trying to look innocent but failing miserably.

"That demonstration of how unworthy you think he is to be with me. The rude way you insulted his attempt to make me happy and the sound of distain in your voice anytime you spoke to him." I explained.

Les let his head fall against the back of the couch and shut his eyes. "Beautiful, I wasn't trying to hurt you, I just felt like he screwed things up with how everything started and because of that I guess I didn't feel like he deserved another chance. I know it's your life and your decision so I'll try to back off and let you be happy." He said before opening his eyes and looking right at me.

I was so happy to hear that he wasn't going to keep interfering with Woody's attempt to be nice to me. "I don't know where this is going, or if it's even going anywhere. But whatever attraction started at the club is still there and I'd like to get to know him better without having to worry that you are going to jump out and insult him or attack him in the gym if you disagree with him on something. I mean if he takes me to the wrong restaurant are you going to deck him? If he takes me to a movie or a game are you going to sucker punch him? Can you hold back and let me decide what is best for me?"

Lester interrupted my tirade by chuckling softly. "You know, you are really beautiful when you're angry."

I looked at him for a second trying to decide if I should still be mad at him but I couldn't hold onto my anger. I guess I really was a lucky girl. How many people were surrounded by so many great men? Not only were they faithful and considerate but they weren't bad to look at either.

Two hours later I had a dilemma. Did I dress up for dinner like a date, or did I stay casual and comfortable for sitting around and talking? What kind of image did I want to portray? Les was stretched across the bed listening to me mumble to myself and laughing. "You girls really go through this much deliberation over every date?" He asked.

"No, not every date, but every first date we certainly do. "I explained my dilemma, "If I dress up too much he will feel the need to keep it fancy and formal so he may not relax and talk to me. But, if I go too casual he may think I don't believe he's worth the effort or he may think I'm only interested in sitting around doing nothing in particular which isn't right either."

"Geez, no wonder your closets are so full of clothes. You have to have an outfit for every possibility." He said, finally getting a small glimpse into the female wardrobe.

"Of course, I don't have much here in the way of clothes," I said after pulling out all the outfits Zip had packed from my dresser. I found a lightweight sweater set that was dressy, but I could pair with some jeans and put on a pair of moderate healed boots. I fluffed my hair with a little Mr. Alexander's hair serum and stood back at the full length mirror on the back of the bedroom door accessing how I looked.

I figured it was okay when Les came up behind me and put his mouth next to my ear and whispered, "You look perfect. In fact if you come back here confused if Woody didn't get the right message from your outfit, I'll be glad to move up the benefits discussion in defining our friendship. His breath was warm on my ear when he spoke; purposefully lowering his voice into a Barry White octave and making me shiver. He stepped back and I looked at him questioningly.

He laughed and said, "I hear lover boy knocking on the door. He's screwed up enough with you already, he better have the appropriate reaction to your outfit."

Les seemed to be enjoying his paternal role and I half expected him to give me a curfew.

"Woody," Les said when he opened the door. I walked up behind Les and stepped around his massive frame to greet my date myself.

Woody's eyes got slightly bigger and he smiled, not in a way that was laughing, but in a way that looked like he'd just been given his greatest wish. "You look beautiful Steph," He said with just a hint of his southern accent.

I felt my knees give a little and took a step to keep it from being too noticeable.

"Well, you kids have a good time," Les said putting his hand on my lower back and leading me to the door. "Young man," He said enjoying this a little too much. "You bring her back home at a respectable hour and with all the clothes she left here wearing." Woody put his hand out and Lester looked it for a fraction of a second before taking it in his hand and firmly shaking it. Then he leaned over and whispered something to Woody. Whatever it was didn't phase Woody a bit as he leaned away and said, "Understood."

Les winked at me as he shut the door and we walked down the hall side by side to unit 4C where Woody turned the knob and opened the unlocked door, motioning for me to walk in before saying, "Ladies first."

I took a deep breath and wondered why I had butterflies in my stomach. This was Woody. I had nothing to be afraid of. He would treat me nicely and we would have a great time. Knowing that to be true, I still felt as though when I walked in his apartment I was about to walk into a new part of my life. It's like I knew this night would permanently change things between the two of us and there would be no turning back no matter which way it went.

I twisted back to look at him and he had the sweetest expression on his face as though he adored me and couldn't wait to begin our night. That was what I needed to see for my legs to move and cross the threshold. I didn't know what would be on the other side of the door, but I was ready to find out.


	8. A First Date

_None of__ the characters are mine. JE makes the big bucks._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you once again for your masterful Beta work._

**Chapter 8 – A First Date**

It is a strange feeling to have your preconceptions totally blown out of the water by someone. It's like walking out over the ocean on a pier only to look down and realize you are adrift on a wooden plank instead of being supported by the structure as you thought. You are still safe on the raft, but it just isn't what you expected.

I walked into Woody's apartment and was hit by two things…the smell of food which made my mouth water and the smell of trees. I knew I hadn't walked into a forest so my eyes scanned the room for potted plants or something else that would account for the scent. Finally my eyes rested on his coffee table which had some finger food on a tray and three flickering dark green candles. I assumed they were scented which was what made me feel like I'd entered another dimension.

This, of course brought up two questions. One, did my image of tough army guys allow for them to serve finger food on fancy trays? And, two, did the Merry Men really light scented candles? I couldn't picture them shopping at the Yankee Candle store comparing scents eagerly calling each other from one candle display to another seeking that perfect scent to set the mood in their apartment.

I had stopped walking so Woody was aware that I was checking out his apartment. My eyes were still on the coffee table and he got a knowing smile on his face when he asked, "Is it too much?"

I looked at him and then back at the table before confessing, "I just can't picture you out shopping for scented candles and trays to serve appetizers on."

He laughed before telling me, "And you'll never see it either, because I didn't get them. My sisters gave them to me last Christmas as a subtle hint that I'm not getting any younger and I either need to begin taking my future serious enough to get married, or I need to commit to bachelorhood. To them committing to bachelorhood means I must be gay so they began to give me gifts that in their minds lean in that direction. I'm not sure if it was meant to push me in what they consider to be the right direction or confirm their suspicions."

Without thinking my mouth opened up, "Are you…" I didn't finish the question realizing it seemed odd to ask the man, who had spent hours at my apartment having sex after confessing he had feelings for me for a long time, if he was gay.

"No Darlin', straight as an arrow, but Hector is one of my closets friends," He gave me wink when he added the last bit.

He led me to the coffee table and I sat down in front of the tray smiling when I saw what he had put out for snacks. From a distance it looked really fancy but up close I was able to relax. Tortilla chips surrounded a glass bowl full of a cheesy dip. The first taste was a little spicy, but not unpleasantly so. "Did you make this?" I asked pointing to the cheese.

"Yea," He began to chuckle, "It's an old family recipe called Velveeta and Rotel tomatoes. Two minutes in the microwave and I'm ready to roll." He put a chip still dripping with dip in his mouth and chewed with a smile before using his tongue to lick the small drop of cheese that landed on his thumb. I was pretty sure I whimpered in jealousy of his thumb.

"How many sisters do you have?" I asked, hoping he would tell me more about his life and get my mind of his tongue.

"I have three," He answered pointing to the triangle of candles of various heights flickering in front of us. "They are much older than me so when I was younger I was more like a little pet than a baby brother."

"How much older?" I asked, curious about his family now.

"My parents got married straight out of high school and had three children, each one year apart. Then my mom went back to work as a school teacher and as far as I know my parents thought their family was complete. Thirteen years later I was born. My mom said the day she found out she was pregnant with me, she sat down on the floor and cried. At first it was because she was miserable with the thought of starting all over again with all the diapers and midnight feedings, but eventually she came around to the idea when she thought about what it would be like to have a son and to hold a baby again with enough wisdom and experience to enjoy it." He told me.

"So you really have four mothers," I summed up, thinking that must have been horrible.

"You have no idea," He replied. "I rarely said anything as a little boy because they answered for me when people in town approached us. I think they liked to dress me up and parade me around as their baby. That's probably why I tend to be quiet now. I've learned if I don't say anything right away someone else will probably step forward and do the talking."

"You seem to be talking just fine right now," I encouraged him.

"This is different," He said grabbing another chip and pointing between us.

"Why?" I wondered.

"Because I have home field advantage," He said with a grin. "And, because we know each other a little I don't have to worry about how I will explain my job or my past since you already know about it." It looked like he wanted to say something else so I tried his approach of being quiet and sure enough he added, "Of course, it helps too that we've already been together and I know how great it can be so I feel like this is worth fighting for. I want to keep the physical out of it now so that we can get to know each other. If talking more is what it will take to rebuild trust with you, then I'll talk."

Wow. I'd never had a guy offer to step out of their comfort zone because they thought I was worth fighting for. No one had trouble asking me to give up my heartfelt desires, but they never seemed willing to do the same thing themselves. Already Woody was way ahead of the other guys I'd know. Then the rest of what he said struck me, "I do trust you."

He looked down, almost ashamed. "You're just being sweet. How can you after what happened?"

"With what happened the other night? I don't think that was enough to lose my trust." I explained.

"I completely took advantage of you. I pride myself on being a gentleman and then the first chance I get to be with you I rush into it not even bothering to be sure you were in any kind of condition to consent. I had dreamed of dating you, getting to know you and letting you get to know me, but I just skipped over that at the first opportunity to yank my pants down." Well, when he put it like that it wasn't very chivalrous.

I smiled, unable to stop it. "Woody," I called his name to get his attention. "We've been through this. We had sex because I wanted to too. I may not remember it, but trust me, if I invited you in my home it was because I trusted you then, and I can promise you that sitting here now, I still do. You told me all about our night. I'm not saying we're going to jump into a repeat performance, because I think I'd like to get to know you a little better first but I'm not going to judge you because of what happened. I played as big a role in it as you did."

He sat back a little as if the weight of my words pushed him there. Eventually he smiled, but not full enough to show me that dimple. "Do you want to see their pictures?" He offered, trying to change the subject.

"Sure," I practically spit out. Having a Merry Man offer up personal information was one thing, but having him volunteer photo evidence of his life was too good to pass up.

He stood up and motioned for me to following him to the shelves around his television. There were several framed photos. He picked up one and handed it to me. Smiling in a wooden frame was a gorgeous younger Woody in his Army dress uniform. I could feel my heart rate increase just from the look of him in the photo. Lord help me if he ever wore that in front of me. Around him in the photo were four women. He pointed to each one and told me who they were. "That's my momma, and then my sisters Lydia, who we all call Liddy, Stella, and Savannah, but we call her Annie."

"What about you?" I asked, realizing two of his sisters had nicknames so it made sense that Woody was not his given name.

"They call me Woody. I was named after my grandfather, Woodrow," He explained. I have to admit knowing his nickname was a family name and not an Army given moniker based on a physical trait was a bit of a relief.

As if he could read my mind he began to laugh and then said, "You thought the guys gave me that name?"

Had I said that out loud? "I didn't know, but I have to admit I'm glad it came from your family." I told him, suddenly developing a great interest in the chips again.

He handed me other snapshots and I realized most of the pictures seemed to be taken at the same place, but in the final picture the back drop changed to a very different looking home. Being me, I couldn't let that slip without asking about it.

"I should have known you would pick up on that. Most of these were taken in front of my parent's house in Texas. It's where I grew up, and every time I go home it's a big deal so everyone comes down and we have a big get together at the house. But this," He said pointing to the picture in my hand, "was taken at my house."

"Your house?" I asked, realizing I hadn't considered that he owned a home. I just assumed he lived in the RangeMan building because he didn't have anywhere else to stay.

"Yea, I had some money saved up and thought it would be a good investment so I bought a place in the Northern Mountains of Virginia. I don't get there as often as I would like, but every couple of months I take off a few days and head down. It's close enough that I can drive it in a long day, but far enough away that I feel like I've really gone somewhere different. I have a couple who live on the property and they take care of it for me."

How big was this place if he needed caretakers that could be there year round? "So they have a room in the house?" I wondered exactly how that worked when he was there.

"No, it's a small ranch really. I've got half a dozen horses and a lot of acreage so they have a small house near the back pasture and when I'm planning on coming down I call them and they open up the main house for me and stock the kitchen. That way I can escape there and I don't have to go into town. I can visit with them or just stay by myself." He explained with a bit of yearning in his voice.

"It sounds like you miss being there." I pointed out.

"Sometimes," He didn't hesitate to answer. "It's in the south, and even though I love my life here, I miss certain things about home too. When I found this place I had to have it because it gave me everything I loved about going home without any of the baggage."

Oh boy did I understand the baggage of home. "When was the last time you were there?" I asked.

"Late Spring," He shrugged in answering. "I've been meaning to get back down there, but things have been busy here so I haven't made the time."

It suddenly struck me that a place like this with acreage must have cost a small fortune, not to mention that he had a couple live there year round who needed to be paid. How much money did Woody have? The house his parent's lived in looked nice, but not extravagant. Something told me he hadn't used family money or lived with a silver spoon in his mouth. My Burg manners kept me from just coming right out and asking, but I knew my mind would be spinning on that little mystery for a while.

I'd been there over an hour before we got up and went to the kitchen for dinner. "I wasn't sure what you wanted to do tonight. I felt bad that I couldn't take you somewhere special for a real date, so I picked up some movies and I went by Pino's and got one of every appetizer on their menu. I thought we could spread these out on the coffee table and just snack our way through the movie."

While we heated up the food and carried it into the den he continued to talk and he told me about entering the Army, which his parents fully supported because they saw it as a way to pay for his college education later. He did get a degree after his active time, but he stayed in the reserves and his parents weren't thrilled about that. Then when his reserves unit was called up for active duty in Iraq they begged him to get out as soon as possible. After his tour he signed a contract with the government to work on specialized short term missions. I got the impression it was much like what Ranger did when he left to save the world. His parents were furious that he wouldn't give up playing army to settle into a normal life and get married. It sounded like the pressure from his family was very similar to my own.

Having talking our way through half the food he pointed to a white bag on top of the television which I assumed had movies to chose from. There had to have been fifteen different DVDs in the bag, "What did you do, get one of everything?" I asked him finding his attempt to make this evening fun flattering.

I was pulling them all out and sorting through the choices when I noticed a brown rectangle handing on his wall. Being me, I couldn't ignore it so I asked him what it was. He got a funny look on his face. "That, little lady, is a little something I do to relax."

"You stare at a brown piece of wood?" I asked confused.

Laughing, he got up and walked over to the object on the wall that had captured my attention. "No." He began opening what were apparently wooden doors to reveal a dart board.

I've always like sports and I spent more time in bars watching games in college than my parents would have approved of. And it is impossible to spend much time in sport's bars without playing darts. I was no champion, but I knew I could play without embarrassing myself. My eyes lit up when I saw the board and the change in my expression wasn't lost on Woody.

"Do you play?" He asked, eagerly opening a drawer at the bottom of the board and pulling out green and red darts with shiny steel points.

"I've thrown before," I answered coyly with my confidence perhaps growing more than it should considering how long it had been since I'd tried.

"Here," He said handing me four green darts. "Let's see what you've got."

That was practically like daring me to do it so I had no choice but to step up and toss all four in rapid succession. I was pleased that they all made it on the board and were relatively close to the bulls eye center. Woody smiled and said, "I'm impressed."

"Now you try," I baited him assuming I had done well enough he would have a hard time topping my performance. I don't know what I was thinking; he is a Merry Man which means anything physical he will excel in. Woody threw four red darts and every one of them went in the dead center with their points practically touching each other.

My jaw literally fell open. "How did you do that?" I demanded.

"Practice," He answered with a laugh. "Do you want me to show you?"

"You can teach me to do that?" I wondered skeptically.

"I don't see why not. You already have a pretty good stance, and you have the right idea about harnessing your strength and using a good release so it's just the aiming part that you could use some work on." He explained.

"I was looking at the board," I told him, defending the idea that I wasn't aiming.

"You were, but you blinked every time you threw the dart, which means you are throwing it where you hope it will go. You have to look at the exact spot you want it to land in order for it to go where you want it to go." He explained while pulling all the darts out of the board and handing me one to try again.

I went through my normal preparation of standing with one foot slightly ahead of the other, raising my arm bent at a ninety degree angle before bending at the elbow and releasing. I even kept my eyes open and made sure not to blink. The dart landed closer to the center, but still not dead on.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Better, but we're still not there." The he came and stood right behind me so that our bodies were touching. If the idea was that the dart would go where I was focused then this next throw might end badly. He adjusted my stance slightly and put a dart between my fingers. The he wrapped his hand around mine and put me in position. Then his free hand went up to my face and he turned my head away from him and toward the board. "Now look at the center, exactly where you want this to go, and then throw it there."

He stepped away so I took a deep breath trying to focus like he said and I let the dart fly. It hit just on the edge of dead center. I was thrilled and he complimented me telling what a great throw that was. Then he put another dart in my hand and said "again." I moved my feet and he made a grunting sound returning to his position right behind me to readjust my stance back to the way he wanted it. This time he didn't step away but whispered in my ear, "Make it go where you want it to."

I tried to take a deep breath again, but with his body right behind mine I felt like every nerve ending in my body was humming and I couldn't calm down. I focused on the small red center of the board and threw the dart. It few across the room and stuck dead center. I spun around and threw my arms around his neck thrilled with my improvement. He responded in kind and wrapped his right hand around my back and put his left hand under my hair on my neck. I stopped bouncing around in celebration and shut my eyes. The feel on his hands on me were exactly like what I remembered in my dreams. With my eyes closed I didn't see him move his face down to mine, but I felt his warm breath on my cheek when he whispered, "I knew you could do it. Anytime you make up your mind to do something, you always do it."

His praise warmed me and I smiled. I felt his lips brush against the side of my face and I was quickly melting into his arms. As one of the Merry Men it was a given that Woody was a good looking man. He met all the RangeMan criteria for body build and impressive looks. While my eyes could see how handsome he was, my other senses were overwhelmed with the woodsy smell of him, the feel of his lips and breath on my face, and the electric connection between our bodies where they were drawn so closely together. "Steph," He said barely above a whisper causing me to open my eyes and make a low humming sound in response. Just as I thought he was about to kiss me, when every fiber of my body wanted him to kiss me, he stiffened as though he realized just how close we were to connecting physically. And then…he pulled away.

He went to the fridge and pulled out a little bowl leaving me standing there confused and really frustrated. It was going so well, why did he stop? I can't believe guys call girls teases.

He came around the corner and said, "I'll give you some, but you can't have it all because this is my favorite dessert." He teased, handing me a spoon and taking one for himself.

It was a pudding of some sort with a creamy top. I wasn't really feeling adventurous for trying new foods right now, but I desperately needed some sugar in my system if I was going to get a hold of my hormones. He motioned for me to take a bite so I scooped up a small amount and put it in my mouth. I tasted sweetened whipped cream, french vanilla, some sort of soft graham cracker or cookie and bananas. I chewed slowly and smiled after I swallowed. "What is this? It's incredible."

He grinned at me in response, "This is real banana pudding made with vanilla wafers and whipped cream." Then he took a big bite of his own. "Haven't you ever had this before?"

"No, I'd remember something like this," I told him, taking another bite boldly making it twice the size of my first taste.

He knocked my spoon out of the way to get his own scoop before saying, "Well don't get too attached to it, I rarely share it because it's hard to find up here."

Seeing his threat as a challenge I replied, "Then I better make the most out of this bowl full," and then I knocked off the bite that was resting on his spoon in order to grab it with my own.

We played and talked until the dish was empty and practically scraped clean. When I looked at the clock on his wall I saw it was 10:30. We'd been together for four and a half hours which was unbelievable. I really felt like I was getting to know Woody, and I loved how open he had been with me.

He noticed that my eyes had looked at the clock and he must have interpreted that as a desire to leave on my part. He held out his hand and I gladly put mine on top to be wrapped up by his warm fingers. "I've had a good time tonight, Steph."

"I have too." I confessed. "I'm hoping we can do this again, the sooner the better."

"I'll have to check my calendar, but I'm free tomorrow night if you are." He responded with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"I'd like that," I replied honestly.

"Maybe you can bring some pictures of your own." He suggested.

I laughed, "Why? You guys see me all the time and if you need photos all you have to do is look in the paper."

"No, that isn't who you are. That's just some of the crap you've survived. I want to see pictures that show me something about you." He clarified.

"The only people that would have things like that are my mother and maybe Mary Lou." I explained, hoping he would let the issue drop.

"Have you been to see your family in a while? I know you used to go on Sunday's but with Jenkins you haven't gone. Do you want to see them tomorrow? I could take you?" He offered, forming a plan as he spoke.

"How desperate are you to see embarrassing pictures of me that you would put up with dinner at my parent's house? You know my Grandma Mazur will be there, right?" I threatened him. I hadn't found one of the guys yet that didn't blanch at the thought of being near her pinching fingers.

"Maybe you could work it so I didn't have to sit right next to her." He countered with a barely detectable grimace.

"If my keeper says I can leave the building, then I'd love to go. It's usually not as much of a circus if I go more regularly. The longer it's been since I've visited, the more my mother finds to complain about." I explained, hoping he would still want to talk to me after spending the evening with my family.

"Do you think Lester will find a problem with me taking you to your parent's house?" He asked tentatively.

"Lester? I meant Tank when I said keeper." I informed him.

Woody's expression transformed into the one eyebrow raised questioning face that was a part of the physical fitness test any RangeMan employee had to prove proficiency in to be hired.

"What?" I asked unsure of what he was asking. "Words would be helpful here." I prompted.

"I think Lester fills that role too, even if it is only in a self-appointed capacity" He informed me, pointing to the shiner he was currently sporting as physical proof of his point.

"That was different." I explained.

"It didn't feel different when his fist made contact with my face." Woody quickly disagreed.

"Lester is hard to understand, but he gets me. He was there for me when I was pretty low and he has supported me and taken care of me when it seemed no one else wanted to. Because of that I think of him as my best friend. He didn't like the fact that I was wondering what happened a few weeks ago and you were walking around with the answers not sharing so he thought he was protecting me. I don't think he'll do it again." I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. The truth was I have every confidence that if Woody hurt me in some way Les wouldn't stop the next time until the paramedics were called.

"Does he think of you as his best friend too, or something more?" Woody asked very unsure of where he stood in relation to Lester in my life.

I smiled at the thought that Woody might be jealous. It was kind of cute even if I knew he'd never admit to it. "Yea, he knows. In fact he's the one that told me we could never be anything more than we are now. He can't do long term relationships, sometimes I wonder if he'll ever be able to. And if we change what we have it would probably ruin everything we've built together." I told him, thinking it was a fair representation of our friendship. Something in the way we accepted and supported each other was important and we both needed that.

I nearly moved on to something else, but then a thought hit me and I figured I should clarify. "Of course, just because Lester and I aren't romantically involved, doesn't mean that whoever I date can try to push him out of the way. Part of accepting me means accepting the role Les plays in my life too."

Woody didn't react immediately. After a brief pause he said, "I wouldn't expect anything else from you. Every man here believes you are the most loyal person we know. I may not understand what you and Santos have, but I won't push you to end your friendship or change it in any way. I just hope he can accept me though, and will give us a chance to build something together."

I felt a warmth in my chest when he mentioned building something together. I always had the feeling Morelli was happy with what we had assuming the fact we had a shared history was enough to sustain a relationship. Ranger understood it would take some work to build a foundation for a real relationship and admitted he wasn't capable of opening up in that way. Woody seemed to the first guy who both realized what was involved and seemed willing to do it. Now the only question was if I was willing to do the same thing? Could I open up to him in the way I expected him to do for me?

Woody walked me back to Lester's apartment and turned to face me in the hall. He took both of my hands in his and brought them up to his face to place a soft kiss on my knuckles. It was a tender and frustrating gesture. I loved that he felt the need to take things slowly with me, but what I really wanted him to do was plant a big kiss on my lips so that I could feel that spark from this afternoon again. I wanted a chance to press myself against him and shamelessly feel his sculpted muscles against my body once more. But, the southern gentleman in front of me didn't seem to be in as big a hurry as I was. And why should he be? He could remember his last social orgasm which I was sure made it easier to wait for his next one.

"Let me know what time we need to leave for dinner with your parents tomorrow," He said, still holding my hands at his lips allowing me to feel his warm breath on my fingers.

I nodded, afraid if I said anything I would throw myself at him and I wanted to go along with his desire to take things slowly this time. At least for a little while.

"Goodnight Darlin'," He said allowing my hands to break free from his.

"Goodnight," I called out to him as he turned to walk away. I stood at the door for a few minutes but remembered the cameras in the hall so I figured I should go in before someone was sent down to check on me.

Lester was sitting on his sofa eating the sub I think he had offered to me earlier today. He smiled around the cheese and sauce in his mouth and held the sandwich up as though he were offering it to me.

I was still a little full from dinner and I certainly didn't want to risk a repeat of what happened the last time I let that smell get too close to my mouth. I shook my head no before taking a seat next to him. I saw that he had the game on and was happy to sit and watch it with him. Watching sports with Lester was always fun, because we both loved to call out when we thought the refs were making bad calls.

He put his plate down and took a long draw on his Corona before putting his arm around my shoulders and asking, "So, do you have anything you'd like to tell me?" in a very parental voice.

I laughed at his attempt to stay in the father role with me. "No," I replied but I could feel my face turning red ruining any chance I might have had of not sharing any details.

He picked up his beer and said, "Spill" before drinking some more.

"I had a good time." I tried to go with the 'less is more' approach that is so famous around here.

"That isn't spilling, that's not even telling me something I didn't already know from looking at your face." He told me, effectively letting me know that he wasn't going to give up. The look on his face told me that I might as well get comfortable and tell him all about my evening.

I leaned against his side thinking it might be easier to talk if I didn't have to look at his face. "It wasn't at all what I expected. He showed me pictures of his family and told me about his life. We talked about how similar the pressures of our parents have been and how we have each been pushed to change what we want out of life to please other people. He wants to take me to my parent's house for dinner tomorrow night which I figure means he's either brave for facing them, or crazy to suggest it."

Les' chest was shaking slightly telling me he agreed with my last sentence. "Do you think Tank will let me go?" I asked, intentionally mentioning getting Tank's permission just in case Les did see himself as my personal keeper as Woody had implied.

"Yea, but he may want someone else to stay outside while Woody is in there with you. With your Grandma and her pinchy fingers nearby, saying that he'll be distracted would be an understatement." Les replied now openly laughing.

"You better stop laughing about this or I'll volunteer you to be the outside presence." I threatened him.

"As long as you bring me leftovers I'll gladly sit and keep watch. Then I could see his face when your Grandma tells him goodnight on the porch." Clearly Les was enjoying this too much. I'd have to ask Tank for someone a little more low key to do it like Hal.

I yawned, suddenly surprising myself that I was sleepy again after taking a nap and getting such a late start to the day in the first place. Les noticed and asked if I was alright.

"I think so," I replied. "Maybe my body is just making me sleep more so I don't have to deal with the reality of what Jenkins could do to me."

Les' arm tightened around my shoulders. "He can't do anything to you, because we won't let him. Don't worry about a thing, Steph, we'll watch over you." He sounded so sure it was impossible for me to doubt him. But since I yawned again Les pushed me up and told me to go to bed.

I got to the door and said, "You know I don't bite, and this is a king sized mattress. You are more than welcome to come in and share it. I feel bad that you're out here on the couch."

He smiled and took a final sip of his Corona before answering, "That's sweet but I think I better stay out here. We work good just the way we are and I don't want to confuse that by letting you fondle me in my sleep."

I pretended to be insulted and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. The truth was that if I knew he was sleeping next to me I would probably end up at the very least, spooned against him, and that probably wasn't a good idea right now.

I washed my face and brushed my teeth and then opened the cabinet below the sink to pull out my feminine hygiene stash. I hadn't started my cycle yet which was odd, but considering the stress I was under it wasn't unthinkable. I decided to use a little something now in order to avoid the embarrassment of having to tell Lester I'd messed up his sheets in the morning. I also set out my pack of pills as a reminder to get them refilled in the morning. I only had a couple of days of the placebo before I should begin a new pack. Maybe I could test Woody's resolve by seeing if he'd take me to the drug store to get my pill refilled.

It might be too soon for something like that so I decided to go with a Plan B on the prescription and see if Les would take me. Somehow the mysteries of the female body were always interesting to him. The one time I tried to shock him by dragging him with me to get a box of tampons it turned into a twenty minute discussion about why there were so many kinds and sizes. He seemed fascinated and I was the one that finally abruptly ended the biology lesson because I had lit up like a tomato with embarrassment.

I changed into some boxers and a tank top and then crawled into bed. I was exhausted and my eyes closed the moment my head hit the pillow. It's a wonder I was even aware enough to remember when Lester came in to grab some clothes from his closet and then pull up the covers around me to tuck me in. I felt him place a kiss on my head and whisper, "Good night Beautiful. I'll watch over you tonight and always."

Lester left silently so that I wondered if I'd actually dreamed the whole thing. Figuring that it didn't matter either way, I allowed myself to drift off to sleep. Tonight when the familiar dream came I could see a face. His dimple was clear as a bell and when he asked if I was sure this is what I wanted he called me Darlin'. Maybe I was remembering our night after all.


	9. Turn About

_None of the characters belong to me. They are all JE's and the credit is hers as well._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) I so appreciate all your work and suggestions as the Beta on this story. I can't imagine trying to post something without your eye on it first._

**Chapter 9 – Turn About**

I woke up the next morning struggling to make my eyelids rise to check the clock. It had to be close to dawn because I still felt exhausted. I had to blink a few times to get my eyes to focus on the red numbers on the clock beside my pillow and couldn't believe that it said 11:22. That had to be a mistake, there is no way I got eleven hours of sleep and still felt this groggy. I drug myself to the bathroom hoping a shower would somehow revitalize me.

Something was definitely off. Maybe the stress of the whole mob stalker thing was getting to me, or perhaps the lack of sunshine from being inside for a while. I decided to make it a point to check in with Tank about the status of Jenkins and then I would see about getting Les to take me to the drug store and maybe we could hang outside for a while to give me some vitamin D from the sun. If that didn't work, I'd go back to bed and hope a nap did the trick. I needed more energy if I was really going to face my family tonight. Especially with Woody beside me hoping to see pictures. Thank God running searches three days a week paid well, or I wouldn't be able to goof off from Vinnie's today.

The thought of Woody brought a smile to my face. I had a great time last night, despite the frustrating moment when he pulled away after my hormones had been set free. I understood what he was trying to do, and I appreciated the thought, but really, it seemed a little late in the game to take the physical part of the relationship off the table considering how this all began.

Did we have a relationship? We'd had sex, we'd had one date that didn't end with even a true good night kiss, and we'd had an evening where he opened up to me about who he is. Tonight I would try to return the favor and let him in on a little of my history that he might not already know. I found that so amusing. My life was an open book and most of RangeMan seemed to know everything about me. I'm not sure what I could tell him that wouldn't be public knowledge.

Did I want a relationship? The last relationship I had that wasn't a complete disaster was back in college. Was I really willing to try again? I was dangerously close to giving my heart to him, could I trust him not to break it? I got out of the shower not wanting to use all the hot water. Who was I kidding? I got out because the shower head wasn't detachable, nor did it have a massage function.

Figuring I had already wasted half of the day I just threw on jeans and a RangeMan shirt and went up to five to see Tank.

I walked right in his office and smiled when he did a double take at seeing me virtually appear before him.

"You know most of the guys knock before entering my office," Tank stated as though he were complaining.

"True, but I've never been confused as being one of the guys, now have I?" I parleyed back.

He shook his head laughing, "That you have not," He agreed. "Now, what can I do for you? I'm guessing this isn't a strictly social call."

"I want to go to my parent's house tonight for dinner. Woody is going to go with me, but I wondered if you wanted anyone else to tag along to sit outside?" I said trying to make it less of a question for permission and more of an issue of getting the security set.

Tank pulled up his copy of the schedule and said, "Hector can go for the perimeter and I'll talk to Woody about going in. He was scheduled to be off tonight."

I didn't want to get into what was going on between me and Woody, especially since I didn't really know myself, but I thought I should clear up Woody's intent to go to save Tank the time. "Actually, Woody volunteered to go and suggested the whole idea to me."

Tank put his head down, slightly rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. He said something under his breath that sounded a lot like, "got it bad" but I didn't ask him to repeat it.

I began to walk out of his office, when Tank called my name so I turned around to wait to see what he wanted. "I have set up some time in the morning at the range for you and Zip to work together. You're not going to get out of our little arrangement for some training."

"What time?" I asked, hoping when he said morning he meant 11:30.

"9:30 sharp." Was his reply before he looked back down at the report he had been reviewing when I first walked in. I didn't think now was the right time to complain about the start time so I quietly left and went in search of Lester.

I found Les on the phone talking in his low sexy voice letting me know it was a woman he had on the other line. When he hung up I was standing beside him grinning. "Business or pleasure?" I asked.

"Hopefully both," He answered, mirroring my grin. "She owns a women's clothing boutique downtown and wants someone to install a security system. I've seen her through the window a few times and I'd love a chance to help protect her lingerie."

I smacked his arm at his piggish statement, but couldn't help but laugh along with him. For better or worse, this was Les and he wasn't going to change. I didn't think I really wanted him to either; I liked the consistency of his nature even if his behavior was from time to time a little shocking.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, understanding I hadn't come to see him just to chat about his love life."

"I need to go to the drug store and wondered if you could take me." I said rolling my eyes at having to have a babysitter at all. I mean it was the middle of the day and I couldn't believe the mob was holding up at every CVS in Trenton waiting for me to make an appearance.

"What do you need?" He asked clearly not sharing my opinion that I would be safe.

I figured if I made it detailed enough he would want me to hush and grab his keys so I said, "I need to refill my prescription for the pill and then I need to get some more tampons and some pads."

Unfortunately, I underestimated Les as he replied, "I can get your pill or I can have Bobby pick it up, and you haven't started your period yet, so why do you need the plugs and pads?"

I decided to let his plug comment go and instead zeroed in on how he knew I hadn't started yet.

"Relax, it's not that I'm that in tune, it's just that I saw you brought some supplies with you but you haven't really used any. Plus my apartment is full of chocolate and you haven't eaten any of it. I thought you always went though a sweets phase before you started." Les explained, absolutely flooring me with his skills of observation. I guess I really wasn't aware of my surroundings because I never would have picked up on all that.

I had no response so Les kept talking. "If you need something just write it down and I'll get it for you. I have to leave in five minutes so Brown and I can swing by and bring it back."

I was really disappointed that he wasn't going to let me go and it must have shown on my face. "Beautiful," He said softening his voice and touching my hand. "You'll be going out tonight when you and Woody go to your parent's house for dinner, but it's still too dangerous for you to be running around town right now. Once we get a handle on whether Jenkins is the one who is going to fulfill his threats since he's out of jail, or if he has some of Bertucci's men helping him out, we can figure out how to better address the situation and then you can go out more. But for right now, please let us keep you as safe as possible."

It was the please that got me. "Alright," I said as half commitment, half complaint. "Just the prescription will do for now." I told him going back to my cubicle to do some searches. At least I could kill some time being useful.

While the first one was running I called my mother and asked if I could come to dinner and bring a friend with me. "Who is it?" She asked as though it would make a difference in her answer.

"His name is Woody, and he and I work together." I told her hoping that would be the end of her questions. "Is he married?" She pushed on, oblivious to my desire to end the conversation.

"Mother!" I said in a huff. Then I backed off a little and told her, "No he isn't."

"Good, then we'll expect you by six. I don't want the roast to dry out so don't be late." She said before disconnecting. Maybe it was just me, but it appeared that no one liked to say goodbye on the telephone anymore.

I jumped back into work and was startled when my cell phone started ringing. I unhooked it from my belt and before I could even say hello I heard a familiar voice say, "White Girl, I got the answer!"

"Hey Lula! What was the question?" I asked, glad to hear from a friend since my eyes were beginning to glaze over from staring at the monitor for so long.

"You know, you're little memory problem. You need to come see Madam Flurry with me." She suggested.

I'd forgotten I hadn't talked to Lula since I figured out who had been my mystery date on Friday but my curiosity was getting the better of me and I couldn't resist asking, "Who is Madam Flurry, and why do I need to see her?"

"She's a psychic at the strip mall down the street. She can read cards or look into her balls to see your future." She said, clearly pleased with her suggestion.

I tried to keep from laughing at the image of a gypsy woman looking at "her balls" trying to see the future. "I don't think a crystal ball is for seeing the past and that's where the mystery was." I informed her.

"She might still be able to get a read on you and give you some clues to work with. I mean if you've gotten a piece of one those fine men, you need to know which one it was so you can see about riding him again." She explained.

"Lula, they aren't horses," I said but then I got distracted with the image of riding Woody like a stallion and I lost the rest of my argument.

"You still with me?" She asked, making me think that I'd zoned out for a minute.

"Yea, I'm here. Listen, as it turns out I've solved the little mystery," I told her thinking the only way I could get her to stop making suggestions was to fill her in on the news.

"What?" She yelled into the receiver. "Who is it? Why you been holding out on me? Did you end up going to see somebody to get hypnotized? Is that how you found out? I told you it was good idea!"

"I just found out yesterday and I haven't been holding out you, we spent last night trying to get to know each other and he's going to take me to dinner at my parent's house tonight." I explained.

"Girl, you must have been some kind of wild woman in bed to make him want you so much that he'd take you to your parent's house." She told me. "Does he know your Grandma will be there?"

"He knows, he volunteered to go." I assured her. Just as I was about to tell her who it was Woody came up and sat on the edge of my desk. I interrupted whatever it was Lula was about to say and told her, "I can't talk anymore right now, I've got to go. We'll catch up soon, I promise." I shut my phone to end the call, but I could hear Lula yelling up to the point the connection was cut.

Woody flashed me a smile that made me thankful I was sitting down because my knees certainly would have been too weak to hold me up after that. "Hey there Darlin'" He said running his index finger softly down the side of my face.

"Hi," I managed to say in return, while being distracted by Lula's suggestion of riding Woody like a stallion. I swear the man had gotten sexier since last night.

"Are we still on for dinner at your parent's house?" He asked with his dimple showing.

I nodded yes and forced myself to battle through the sex craved haze to add, "5:40. We need to leave by 5:40 to get there in time. Tank said Hector will go too to watch the outside while we're in there."

"I'll go talk him now," He told me standing up.

"Can you speak Spanish?" I asked him, realizing I didn't know the answer to that and that Hector tended to only communicate that way.

"Si," He replied with a final smile before turning around to walk away.

I nearly fell out of my chair watching his perfectly filled out cargos go down the hall. There was nothing about his body that was less than perfect. Just before I began to slip from my seat a white plastic bag hit my desktop causing me to half-scream much to Lester's delight.

"Easy there, Beautiful," He snickered out. "I just got back from CVS and wanted to get this to you."

I peeked in the bag and saw he had not only picked up my pill, but the feminine hygiene products I typically used and a bag of individually wrapped Dove dark chocolates. I wasn't sure what to comment on first so I just decided to smile at him and say, "Thank you."

I assume he was expecting a smart remark or a question about how he knew what to pick up, so my low key response caught him off guard. "Are you okay?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I'm fine, why?" Now he was making me question if everything really was alright.

"No reason, I just expected your response to be different." He said giving me one more hard look and then slowly making his way down the hall to his cubicle.

I probably did owe him more than just a token thank you, especially since he was so thoughtful to bring me not only what I asked, but chocolate too. When I realized this, I stood up to go give him a hug but when I began to walk towards him, the office began to swirl and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of dizziness.

I heard someone, Vince maybe, asking if I was alright and then I heard him calling for Bobby. That was all I remembered before my legs refused to hold my body up and I hit the floor.

The next thing I knew I was looking into a pair of very worried green eyes and felt a blood pressure cuff on my left arm indicating Bobby was there too. Les let out a breath when I opened my eyes and then said, "Welcome back," and gently touched my face.

"What happened?" I asked feeling very weak all of a sudden.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Lester replied. "Vince said you were following me down the hall and stopped all of sudden. You rubbed your temple for a minute and then passed out."

"How have you been feeling lately?" Bobby asked, apparently satisfied with my blood pressure.

"Just tired," I answered.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked while pressing his fingers on the inside of my wrist and staring at his watch.

I was about to say lunch, but then I thought back and remembered I'd slept in and then started the day as soon as I got up which meant I'd skipped two meals. That was really strange for me. "Dinner last night," I had to admit.

Bobby dropped my wrist at that piece of information. "Well, no wonder you're weak." Then he turned his attention to Lester and said, "Take her downstairs and get some food in her. I'll stop by in about half an hour to draw some blood to see if she's anemic because low iron could have done the same thing."

Les raised an eyebrow at me, still very concerned looking. "I'm fine," I assured him before explaining why I hadn't eaten today. He helped me to my feet and held my hand while we walked to the elevator. I assured him I wasn't going to hit the deck again but he didn't seem willing to risk it by letting me go.

He guided me to the couch and swung my feet up to stretch my legs out and then asked, "What can I get you to eat?"

When I thought about it for a few seconds I realized I wasn't hungry because I still felt a little nauseous. Then I remember the other day when I ate Cheerios that they seemed to make the feeling go away so I asked for a bowl of cereal and he jumped to grab it for me.

I took the first bite and was pleased that it seemed to settle my stomach too. So I happily finished the whole bowl. "Are you sure you're alright?" Les asked. He didn't look like he completely believed my previous assurances. "Usually if you skip a couple of meals you are ready to eat a horse, so a small bowl of cereal doesn't seem right for you."

I told him exactly how I felt and he listened before getting a strange look on his face and asking, "When are you supposed to get your period?"

His question caught me so off guard that I answered it without thinking. "I should have started a couple of days ago, but it isn't that unusual to start a couple of days late when you're under a lot of stress. think this whole Jenkins mess counts as being stressful, so I'm not too worried." I explained.

His face relaxed a little at my explanation and he offered me a refill which I declined. I felt much better after eating, which just confirmed my suspicions that I was fine. Bobby knocked on the door just before I had a chance to announce that I was going back to work. I had two hours before it was time to leave for my parent's house and I didn't want it to drag by with me being bored.

I hate needles, which is nothing new for Bobby so he asked Lester to distract me while he drew some blood. Les told me about the clothing store he wanted to have under RangeMan security and before he was finished detailing some of the true assets she might need to protect, Bobby announced he was finished. He promised to have the results back the next day and told me he thought I should take it easy.

Lester walked him to the door and whispered something too low for me to hear. Whatever it was it seemed to surprise Bobby but he shook his head, bumped his fist and left.

"You're going to take a nap," He announced as though he were reclaiming his father role.

"No," I objected. "I am going to go back to my desk and finish the searches I was working on until it's time for dinner at my parent's house."

We stared at each other for a few minutes before Les realized I wasn't going to give in. "Will you at least take a banana with you?" He asked, acknowledging my victory. I smiled and accepted the fruit on my way out the door.

An hour and a half later I heard someone clear their voice behind me and turned around to see Hector standing there smiling at me. "Hola," He began with a wave.

"Hi Hector," I replied remembering my manners. "You're stuck watching out for me at my parent's house?"

"Si, we go now," He told me.

I looked around and didn't see Woody so I asked where he was. "He will meet us there," Hector replied.

I was disappointed to say the least. It sounded like my mother was actually interested in meeting him, or was at least going to be nice to him until she learned whether or not he might be interested in marrying me. 'Why me?' I thought to myself cringing at quoting my mother's favorite line.

"He had trouble leaving police station with a skip. Zip will take him to meet you there and I'll bring you both back here when you're done." He explained, which eased my fears immediately. It also answered why I didn't see him after I passed out. I was trying to keep from thinking about it, but I would have thought he'd been interested in checking up on me himself if he really cared. Now I realized he hadn't looked in on me because he wasn't here.

The ride to my parent's house was pretty quiet except for the rap music playing low in the background. When we got there I didn't see any other cars so I figured we had beaten Zip here. I sat there for a second not moving which prompted Hector to say, "Go on in. If it gets too much page me and I'll come in and save you."

I smiled at his offer and then briefly wondered what he would do to save me. He could always knock on the door and say there was a work emergency that needed my attention, but that didn't seem like his style. I pictured him more kicking the door open and rushing in to the dinning room rapidly speaking in Spanish with his gun raised and his hand out for me to take and follow him back out. I shook my head at the image. Even though I couldn't understand a word Hector said when he was speaking Spanish, I loved the cadence and sound of it. I'm pretty sure I'd follow him anywhere. That, of course started me thinking about Woody speaking Spanish which totally hooked my interest. That body, with those words had the potential to make me do some very naughty things.

Hector laughed and said, "Chica, you give me ideas I shouldn't hear."

I was quite sure I turned a bright Christmas red before grabbing the door handle and quickly making my way from the SUV to the front door. I thought it was odd that my mother wasn't at the door waiting like she usually was. Maybe her radar alerting her of my presence was scrambled for some reason. I rang the bell, smiling when I looked at my watch that I had arrived with five minutes to spare. No dry roast on my conscience tonight.

I stood there for a few seconds before I decided to just let myself in as I was getting a little worried about why no one had answered the door.

"Hello," I called out as I walked in.

"Stephanie, come on in," My mother said from the den. I went in feeling like I was entering an episode of the twilight zone. Sitting on the couch was Woody surrounded by my mother and grandmother on either side. In his lap was the required photo album of every Burg child detailing my life from birth through eighth grade.

He smiled that killer smile almost making me forgive him on the spot, but then Grandma opened her mouth and said, "We saw this hot ticket on the front porch and invited him in. He said he was looking forward to learning more about you and maybe seeing some of your pictures tonight so Helen gave him this album. Can you believe how good I used to look? I guess for my age I'm still alright, but you should enjoy the next fifty years because by the time you're my age your bits will be hanging down so low that you won't be able to wear a t-shirt without a bra just to keep things still."

"Grandma!" I called out, praying that she would hush. Of course I hadn't been to mass in a while so I wasn't surprised when she kept right on talking.

"Isn't he a cute one?" She asked looking at Woody. "He started talking and I thought with that accent he could talk the pants off anything. I know I'd like to take mine off. I may have to start wearing skirts when you come over. Do you think I could get away wearing one of those dresses like you do to bars?" She asked, referring to my distraction wardrobe. She had gone to Macy's with me once and watched Lula and I pick out dresses and was fascinated at how short they could make a skirt and it still be considered an article of clothing.

I looked at my watch and asked, "Mom, do you need any help getting dinner on the table?" When my mother saw it was only a minute before six she jumped up mumbling about needing extra gravy. I plopped down where she had been sitting and was relieved when Grandma got up too to go see if she had any skirts that would match her current shirt which happened to be a yellow sequined tank top.

Woody put his arm around my shoulder and said, "I learned more about why you are the way you are in the five minutes I spent alone with those two than I have in three years of wondering."

I wasn't sure what to say to that and was relieved when he pressed on. "Your mom is so much like my own, pushing for what she thinks is best for you, but doing it out her misguided sense of love. And your Grandma is just plain nuts, but she has a fearless sense of adventure and despite your mother and father constantly trying to make her change, she refuses to conform."

"I'm glad to see you stayed and didn't go running for the doors. Some of the guys are a little afraid of my Grandma." I told him, relaxing into his side.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. She scares the shit out of me. I only sat down to look at the pictures because in the five minutes I was standing up she pinched my ass twice and tried to cop a feel once. Sitting with a book on my lap seemed the only way to keep myself safe until you got here to provide some extra coverage." He said with a laugh.

My mother called us to the table just as Grandma came downstairs in her yellow top with a denim miniskirt and her tennis shoes. When she sat down Woody discretely pushed me towards her chair so that he was sitting between me and my Dad. I shook my head and took my place as his protector.

Dinner went smoothly enough until my mother decided to get chatty. It made me wonder if the delay in getting the food on the table was due to her tippling a little extra in the kitchen.

"So Woodrow," She began in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Stephanie tells us you're not married."

"No ma'am, I'm not," He replied, quickly taking another bite of potatoes.

"Are you interested in getting married?" She pressed on, not picking up on the subtle death glare I was throwing her way.

"I would be very interested in marrying the right girl, Mrs. Plum," He added while gently squeezing my right thigh gently under the table cloth making me forget my attempt to silence my mother and stare at the handsome man who was now rubbing my leg.

"Since you two work together I assume you know what kind of crazy work Stephanie does for a living," She kept going, snapping my attention back to her at once. "Do you think as long as she keeps associating with criminals and constantly putting herself in danger that she could ever attract the attention of someone interested in marrying her?"

Apparently she was expecting an answer as she stopped talking and sat there perfectly still looking at Woody.

"Ma'am, I know exactly what Stephanie does for a living and I'm impressed with her work. I have often volunteered to work with her because of the level of respect I have for her. I could imagine no greater honor for a man than having a woman like your daughter as his wife." When Woody finished talking he looked at me and began rubbing my leg again.

We were just sitting there staring at each other, quickly getting lost in our own little world. Unfortunately Grandma Mazur decided to interrupt by asking, "Woody, do you have a grandfather that might be single? I could use myself a stud and if he talked like you but was closer to my age and could still get it up, then we could double date and have a hell of a time. I've got my own gun so he wouldn't need to worry about being safe with me."

My Dad chose that moment to announce that he was through eating and invited Woody to join him in the garage. Woody looked at me briefly but I gave him a nod that it was alright. My Dad was a good man, the best I knew, and I felt like Woody would be safe with him and would probably appreciate the break from the sexual images my Grandma insisted on presenting to him.

I helped my mother clear the table and while we were stacking the plates in the dishwasher she began to talk. "You know Stephanie; I think he really likes you. He hasn't run screaming from the house despite mother's obnoxious behavior and when he spoke about you getting married he seemed so sincere." She said lulling me into a false sense of security before adding, "And it looked like you enjoyed it when he rubbed your leg. Do you think you might marry him?"

I hadn't even seen the fastball coming. "I don't know mom, we're just beginning to get to know each other, but I can tell you that I like him."

"What's not to like," She interrupted, "He's good looking, polite and can put up with your family. You need to jump on him while you have the chance." She advised, me making me wonder how this episode of the Twilight Zone would end. "Have you thought about dressing a little nicer around him? Your grandmother's words not withstanding, you have a nice figure. If you used it to your advantage I'll bet you could turn his head and keep his attention."

"Are you seriously suggesting I try a relationship with Woody? What happened to Joe being my last hope?" I asked her.

"Joe is married dear, I think that ship has sailed, but not all hope is lost." She said sounding like an ancient sage of some sort. "He does seem to be sweet on you." She added making me wonder if she really thought that, or if she was just trying to push me into any relationship that had any chance at all of ending with marriage.

She cut a couple of pieces of pineapple upside down cake and put generous dollops of Cool Whip on top telling me to deliver it to the garage. I obediently grabbed the plates and forks and made my way out back.

The talking immediately ceased when I walked in which I thought was odd. That my father would be talking at all was strange, but that he would quit just because I came in was even more so. I dropped off the cake and rubbed my hand over Woody's shoulder. It wasn't my fault really, he stood up when I entered the room and when I sat the cake down he sat down too putting his hard t-shirt covered shoulder right within my reach. He was smiling at me and I thought for a moment that my mother might be right. I couldn't completely read his expression, but I liked the way it made me feel when he looked at me that way.

I left them there to eat in peace and returned to the kitchen with my mother. "Mom, Dad and Woody were in the garage talking." I said as though I didn't think it were possible.

"Of course they were, dear, they're men." She answered as though my father were Mr. Conversation. "Stephanie, bring him back again this weekend. I know Val would like to meet him and the girls too. It's only fair for him to see us all before you get too involved. That way he will see upfront what the rest of the family is like." It seemed as though she thought that St. Valerie's family might be the only thing that'd scare Woody away, as if her and Grandma Mazur weren't doing a good enough job on that front. It was weird though, I've never heard my mother say anything negative about my sister. I didn't know what alternate reality I had entered, but I didn't want to leave. Perhaps I'd hit my head harder than I thought this morning.

My mom boxed up some leftovers and I noticed the bag for Woody had twice as much as mine did. I don't know how he did it, but somehow that guy had hooked my mother. Just as I was about to go get the men from the garage they came in the back door and Woody turned back and shook my Dad's hand. It seemed like a significant thing.

My Grandma was coming back downstairs as we were walking to the front door and as she walked past us I felt Woody put his arms around my waist from behind me and pull me close to the front of his body. He was warm and the feel of his arms made me feel secure and wanted. Grandma passed by with a smile and told him to come back soon. I felt him shiver slightly at her invitation. My mother handed us both the leftovers and my Dad told us to come back soon.

I leaned over to kiss Dad goodbye and he whispered, "I like this one, Pumpkin. He understands." I had no response at all for that. My father had never had a single comment about any of the men in my life. He tolerated Dickie, ignored Joe, and seemed to respect Ranger, but he had never offered any comments about them to me. Woody was the first man he'd ever expressed an opinion on.

We made our way out to Hector waiting in the SUV and Woody opened my door and handed me up into the back seat before getting in the front himself.

As Hector pulled away from the curb Woody said, "Thank you for that."

I couldn't imagine what he meant. "For what?"

"For all of it. For sharing your family with me, for letting me have a few minutes with your Dad, who is a fascinating man by the way, and mostly for letting me hide behind you when your Grandma was leaving." He admitted, making me laugh. So much for sharing a tender moment, I was nothing more than cover to duck behind.

We rode in relative silence and as we approached Haywood I felt sleep beginning to pull at me. I couldn't believe I was sleepy again. Maybe Bobby was right and I did need some iron supplements. I decided to just shut my eyes for a minute, but the next memory I had was of Lester asking Woody what happened in a panic over seeing me unconscious in Woody's arms at the apartment door.

I woke up a little but wasn't completely with it and told Les in a bit of slurred speech, "Hush, I fell asleep."

That made my roommate chuckle and point Woody to the bedroom to lay me down. "Did she do okay tonight?" Les asked, assuming I was asleep again just because I wasn't talking.

"Great. We had a good time," Woody admitted, sounding as shocked as I was by that admission. "I think I understand her a little better," He added, brushing the hair away from my face before placing a kiss on my check. I wanted to grab him by the hair and pull him onto me for another kiss, but I just didn't have the energy. I hoped Bobby came up with something. If I was too tired to act on my hormones, then something was definitely off.

I heard Les tell Woody to come out to the den so they could talk, but they shut the door excluding me from the conversation. I didn't mind, right now I could still smell Woody from where he'd held me close to his chest and I was in a comfortable bed with a stomach filled with pineapple upside down cake. My life couldn't get much better.


	10. Results

_None of the characters belong to me; JE gets all the credit and the money._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you once again for all your help on this story. It wouldn't be near what it is without your Beta work._

**Chapter 10 – Results**

When I woke up the next day I felt groggy and exhausted as though I'd spent the last evening doing physical exercise instead of sitting around eating dinner with my parents. Realizing I had to get up in order to meet Zip on time in the shooting range, I forced myself to get up and into the shower. Throwing on the first pair of cargoes and a RangeMan embroidered polo I decided the effort involved in fixing my hair wouldn't be worth it so I put it up in a messy bun and headed to the kitchen.

I went straight for the box of Cheerios and poured out all that remained, realizing Lester must have been eating them too because there wasn't even half a bowl left. I started to get mad at him for eating them all since this seemed to be the only food my body was interested in eating right now, but then I remembered that the cereal was technically his and I was just a guest. so I sucked it up and ate my meager meal before heading down to the firing range.

Zip was standing in the hall leaning against the door looking at his watch when I walked out of the elevator. "What?" I asked looking at the wall clock and seeing that it was exactly 9:30, meaning I was on time.

"I didn't think you'd show." He confessed shaking his head. "I bet Woody you wouldn't be here before 10:00 at the earliest and now I owe him fifty bucks."

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I hated it when the cops bet on me, and thinking that Woody had done the same thing irritated me until I realized if Zip owed him money that means he said I would be there. He believed I could do it. I smiled in response at that revelation.

Zip caught the change in my expression and said, "Now get rid of those thoughts. It's bad enough I have to put up with it from him anytime your name comes up. I don't think I can take it from you too." He threw an arm over my shoulder as we walked into the room I called the bullet room. The guys usually rolled their eyes when I said that and indulged my lack of training as an excuse for coming up with such a girly name for what they called the armory.

Zip picked up a revolver like my .38 and two different styles of 9 millimeters. I cringed at the thought of having to shoot long enough to fully get to know three different guns. "Relax, Steph, we're just trying to see what fits you best. I know you've got a .38, but I've never thought that was the right gun for you. We'll test a few things out and see what you are more comfortable with and go from there. Okay?"

I nodded, realizing the sooner we got started the sooner this would be over.

We spent the first hour going over safety rules and reviewing how to handle each of the weapons. I learned to break them apart and put them together. I cleaned them and loaded them. It wasn't until 10:30 that he grabbed us ear protection to begin firing.

An hour later I had managed to use my lesson from Woody on throwing darts to amaze Zip by hitting every place he asked me to on the targets. When we were finished putting everything away and sweeping up the spent casings Zip told me, "I'll tell Tank how you did and show him the footage. You always said you didn't like guns which we took to mean you weren't good with them. After watching you shoot I don't see a reason why you couldn't pass the proficiency test for RangeMan employees. There's nothing else for me to teach you here."

I smiled at the last part. Maybe that would mean no more early morning calls at the range. Hopefully my lesson on B&E would be as simple too.

I went back up to my cubicle and intentionally walked past Woody's desk, despite it being out of my way just to see if he was there by any chance. I was definitely disappointed when he wasn't there. I said hello to the guys that were around on my way to my cubicle and sighed out loud when I saw the stack of searches waiting in my inbox.

I booted up my computer and jumped right in. At 12:30 an e-mail popped up in my inbox which I clicked on without thinking. It had no subject heading but the message read, "You'll have to go back to your apartment sometime. I'll be waiting." There was no signature and the address was a series of numbers in a generic yahoo account. Of course, I didn't need a signature or a clear address to know who it was from.

Jenkins was threatening me and the thought of it turned my stomach. I was already tired and now my limited breakfast was churning in a threatening way. I stood up to see if a change of position would make me feel more settled. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect.

I had to get somewhere fast so I took off to the only bathroom on the main floor and hit Les at the door. Not bothering to apologize I finished my mad dash to a toilet and promptly allowed my small bowl of Cheerios to return to the world.

Of course Les had followed me in and held back the pieces of my hair that had escaped from the bun for me while I got sick. It was both touching and mortifying at once. Once I finally thought the heaves were over I flushed the toilet and leaned against the wall. The cool tiles felt good on my back.

"Are you alright?" He finally asked.

I nodded my head. It wasn't that much of a stretch, after emptying my stomach I really did feel better. Then I remembered what had set this off in the first place and said, "E-mail."

"What?" He asked, picking up on the fact I was trying to tell him something.

"Got an e-mail in my account here from Jenkins," I clarified, beginning to feel strong enough to stand up.

Les pulled me to his side for support and we walked over to the sink so I could wash my hands and attempt to rinse out my mouth. When I looked in the mirror I saw Les' fighting face had reappeared. He was in full battle mode.

"Go," I told him. "It's still open up on my desktop. I'll be fine."

He shook his head no indicating he wasn't leaving, but he did pick up his cell phone and dial someone that he addressed in Spanish. After giving instructions for a few minutes he flipped his phone shut, without an adios I might add. He saw the curiosity on my face and answered the unspoken question, "Hector."

That made sense; Hector was one of our resident computer experts. I stood at the sink testing my theory that I was really okay and was pleased to see that I was still feeling settled so I straightened up and began moving to the door.

"Where are you going?" Lester asked seeing me leaving.

"Back to work," I replied. "Standing in the bathroom isn't paying my rent."

He was faster than me and reached out grabbing my arm. "Not so fast Steph. You can't do much right now because Hector is at your computer. Why don't you go back down to the apartment and rest for a bit?"

"No!" I said with a little more force than was necessary considering Les was only concerned for me. "I can't just sit down there doing nothing. This guy is threatening me and I'm tired of it. There has to be something I can do."

Les looked down at his phone telling me he'd just gotten a text. His blank face slid firmly into place and he said, "Bobby just got your blood work back and he wants to see you. Do you want to go down to his office or have him meet us in the apartment?"

I debated both options and finally decided the apartment was probably the best way to go. I had decided against just climbing into bed and hiding from the day and the threat, but that didn't mean I wanted to be where people could see me if Bobby had bad news. I may enjoy visiting denial land, but even I had to admit I had been feeling a bit off lately. "Let's meet him in your apartment." I decided.

Les typed in a reply and then slung his arm over my shoulders to walk me to the elevator. "You know," He said as the doors closed. "I'm starting to think about it as our apartment. Strange, huh?"

I knew what he meant. Les was a confirmed life long bachelor and the thought of sharing his living space was usually enough to give him the hives. I understood this reaction as I'd had it myself when faced with the idea of moving in with Joe. I guess it's because we had the rules of our relationship so well established that we could be comfortable sharing the space. I still felt like I should say something, "Relax, I don't plan on looking at color swatches."

When we stepped off the elevator, Bobby was standing there leaning against the apartment door looking very serious. He nodded his acknowledgement of our presence but said nothing until we walked in and settled on the furniture in the living room. Les sat right next to me on the couch so close that our legs were touching. Bobby planted himself in front of me on the coffee table.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Bobby began.

"I'm fine," I replied out of rote more than truth.

"Bullshit," Lester interrupted. "She just spent the last ten minutes in the men's room throwing up again."

That did it. Friend or not, I didn't appreciate having my private business broadcasted to all of RangeMan. "That was just because I'd gotten a threat from Jenkins in my e-mail. It was a response to the stress of the situation." I tersely explained, returning my attention to Bobby.

His lips were drawn in a tight line. "Maybe," He said. "Or, it could be because of the lab work I just got back."

Instinctually, I reached out for Lester's hand. Something in the way Bobby said that made me feel like I'd just gotten a bad report and I was suddenly terrified at what our company medic would say next.

Seeing the tension Bobby reached out and put his hand on my leg just above my knee. "It's okay Steph. It isn't that kind of news."

I relaxed marginally, but I didn't let go of Lester's hand. Partly because I still wanted his support, but mostly because he was squeezing it tightly and I couldn't have pulled it away even if I'd wanted to.

"I sent off the blood I drew yesterday morning and the results just came back. I was right about your iron levels being low. You aren't fully anemic, but they are low enough to make you feel sluggish or tired which explains the extra rest you've needed lately." He began.

"But what's making my iron levels go down?" I asked. I understood this wasn't a serious condition in and of itself, but I also knew it didn't happen overnight, something caused it to happen.

"That's a good question. According to the lab results, it's because…" He paused a little as if he wasn't sure how to phrase what he needed to say.

"What?" Les finally prompted. "What is it?"

Lester's outburst snapped Bobby out of his stupor and he said, "Pregnant. Steph, you're pregnant."

"That can't be right," I said with a nervous laugh. "This has to be a joke. I can't be pregnant. I'm on the pill and I never forget to take them." I paused remembering that single night after drinking at the club. "Well, almost never."

"No form of birth control is one hundred percent effective and missing one pill would make its effectiveness even lower. But, the blood test was absolutely conclusive. You are positively going to have a baby."

The guys gave me a minute to digest what was being said. As I was stuck in my thoughts trying to decide if I should panic, cry or smile, there was a knock on the door. Bobby and Lester looked at each other.

"What?" I asked, sensing there was something they weren't telling me.

"That's probably Woody," Bobby admitted.

"No," I finally stuttered out. "I can't face him yet. I have to wrap my mind around this first on my own. Just send his away. Tell him I'm sleeping. Tell him I can't see him. Tell him…" I was working myself up into a complete panic at the idea of having to face Woody and tell him I was pregnant with his baby while things were still so new and undefined between us.

"It's okay Beautiful," Les said getting my attention back on him. "I'll send him away" He told me as he was walking to the door. But, just before he opened it he added, "But you're going to have to tell him soon. He deserves to know."

I nodded that I understood, and at heart I agreed with him. But I couldn't do it right now.

I heard Les greet Woody at the door and then tell him that I wasn't ready to see anybody, and he would have me call Woody as soon as I was up for it. I could tell that Les hadn't even allowed him in the apartment and I felt bad for how Woody must feel being forced to stay in the hall thinking that I was sick in the apartment.

Finally realizing he wasn't going to get in Woody said, "Can you tell her I came by and that I'm worried about her?" He started to walk away but then thought better of it and asked, "Is she alright? I know she got sick on four and I just need to know if everything is okay."

Les let out a breath. "I'll have to let her answer that man, it's her business, but from what I can tell, she will be just fine. No worries." That seemed to appease Woody as he left without another word.

Lester came back and sat beside me on the couch just looking at me. I faced him but didn't say anything. Finally he broke and a smile began to form on his lips lighting up his entire face.

I looked at him with a question on my face, still not speaking, but he knew what was on my mind.

"I'm so excited. I'm going to be the world's best Uncle, Steph. There will be a little you running around RangeMan and I can't wait. This is going to be great." He looked like a kid at Christmas.

I almost felt bad for bursting his bubble by saying, "Maybe."

"No, Bomber, the test was conclusive, there will definitely be a little you running around RangeMan," Bobby echoed Lester's sentiment.

I didn't reply immediately, but Les knew me well enough to guess where my mind had gone. "You don't mean that Stephanie. There is no way you could go through with it. You fight for every person you know, especially when they're weak and need help. This baby is completely defenseless and there is no way you could hurt it. You'd never go through with it."

I shut my eyes, knowing he was right. Instinctively I put my hand over my stomach and looked down. A single tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek. I didn't want to be so weak that I broke down in front of the guys, but this was overwhelming.

Sensing I needed a change of topic Bobby pulled out a pill bottle and said, "Here are your prenatal vitamins. They have iron in them which should help with the sluggishness, but I'm sure you are aware that a lot of pregnant women have a hard time for the first three months. The most important thing I can tell you is that you need to get in to see an OB/GYN, and that you are definitely not alone. I know most of us will feel the same way Les does. Most people have no interest in being around us, much less getting to know us, but you have always accepted and loved us no matter what has happened in our past. The fact that you are having a baby is going to be seen as something to celebrate because for a lot of us, this is the only baby we will ever get to know and love. I hope you'll let us be a part of their life."

That did it. The dam broke, releasing the tears in earnest. I leaned into Lester's chest and nodded my head. "It's not a matter of letting you be a part of the baby's life," I eventually got out. "It's more that I'll need you all in order to do it. I can't do this alone."

Lester spoke first. "You know you aren't alone." His hand rubbed up and down my arm as he spoke. Then his voice softened and he added, "You've got all of us, but you also have Woody."

I stiffened at the mention of his name. "I might be off base, but you had a great time with him at his apartment, and then he managed to survive your parent's house. You know he'll be beside you too, right?"

I pulled back a little and dried my face to say, "I know he would stand by me. His sense of honor wouldn't let him do anything else. But how do I know he's going to be there because he wants to be with me or if he's going to be there because he'll feel forced to because of the baby. I don't want him by my side out of obligation."

Lester pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before saying, "He won't be there out of obligation."

"How do you know that?" I challenged.

"I know it because after he put you to bed last night we had a beer and talked. That man is completely in love with you. He has been for years. He understands you and is scared to death that if he lets you see how strongly he feels that it will spook you and you'll push him away. Hell, I almost felt bad for hitting him once I figured out he was the one."

His face softened a little as he looked at me to continue. "Your dad saw how he felt over dinner and they talked about what it means to love you when they were out in the garage. Apparently your father told him that you were his favorite daughter, but he recognized that loving you was like walking a difficult thin line. One has to be there to support and protect, but it has to be done in a way that allows you the freedom to live your own life. According to Woody, it wasn't anything that he didn't already know but he felt like it was your Dad's way of approving of him by taking the time to offer some pointers."

Then Les started laughing when he said, "Your Dad also threatened to kill him with his bare hands if he so much as hurt a single hair on your head. I've been through a lot of shit with Woody and I've seen his nerves of steel, but I can tell you whatever your Dad said made an impact because that guy looked nervous at the idea of having to face your father if the two of you ever had a disagreement."

That made me smile as I only knew my father as a mild mannered, quiet man. Still, he had been in the Army too, so he might be capable of fulfilling that promise. Apparently, my Dad was a man of many surprises. I wonder how he would react to my news.

"Why don't we take off and give you a little time to get your head around all of this? Do you have a doctor you want to call?" Bobby asked.

I shook my head no.

Bobby spoke up again and said, "My girlfriend Gina works for an obstetrician in town. I could get you an appointment there if you'd like."

I figured that was probably a good idea. I mean I understood the need for prenatal care, but right now the prospect of having to arrange it was overwhelming. If I let Bobby set it up I knew it would get done and he'd be sure I made it there. I agreed to his plan and got up to retreat to the bedroom.

Just before I stepped into the back room Les spoke up. "Steph, what about Woody?"

I shook my head no meaning I couldn't face him just yet.

"He needs to know to. This isn't just about you anymore." He added.

I got pissed at first and I felt it showing on my face. A couple of days ago Lester didn't mind bringing up that the guy I'd slept with was being a coward and shouldn't have withheld the information about our night together. Hell, he'd even tried to beat him up in the gym and now suddenly he was Woody's biggest fan. It didn't make sense. I was going to ask what had changed, but Les beat me to the answer.

"I talked to him and I see how he feels. He isn't playing you. This is real to him and even I could see that. There aren't many people that I could stomach seeing you with, but he just might be one. The man has it bad." He explained. "And, I think he could make you really happy. You both deserve that."

As an afterthought he added, "I've seen him fight for you," His hand rested on the purple bruise on his jaw, "And I think you should give him chance. He isn't going to give up on you."

With that bomb, Lester and Bobby got up and left me alone in the apartment.

I threw myself on the bed in my thinking position for some mental gymnastics. First things first, I'm pregnant. Holy cow, my mother is going to shit. I could just hear it now, 'Why me? Why can't just one of my daughters get married first and then have a baby? How hard is it to keep your legs together? Don't you realize what the neighbors will say?'

Realizing that line of thought was getting me nowhere, I put my hand on my stomach and sighed. I knew it was true. I'd never been pregnant so I had no real experience to base it on, but as soon as Bobby said it I knew he was right. There was another life inside of me. Along that same vein, Lester was right too. I had to protect it and make some decisions that would be best for the little boy or girl that was growing inside of me. I wasn't the most maternal, admittedly, but I did know a thing or two about protecting those weaker than me and I knew I had to do that now.

I could accept that I was going to be a mother, and even though I was scared I thought I might make a good one. It's not like I knew what to do, it was more a feeling that I could love this baby unconditionally and give it the room to grow and be whomever it wanted to be. Yea, I could do that.

Having straightened all that out, my mind turned to Woody. What would he think? Did he want children? Would he be excited about this, or would he feel tied to marry me out of some sort of twisted gentlemanly honor? I didn't want that. I couldn't bear the thought of seeing guilt in his eyes at the breakfast table. No, I'd already been in one marriage that happened for the wrong reasons and I was not walking down that road again. I could handle this alone if I had to.

But what if Woody didn't want to marry me because of the baby? What if he saw it as something to celebrate? What if Les was right and Woody loved me for me? I couldn't imagine that. I continued to think in circles for the next half hour and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

Dreaming I was back in my apartment I pictured myself being pressed against the door. I could see the face of the man with me and it was definitely Woody. He asked me if I was sure and I told him yes. It felt wonderful to be lost in this familiar dream again.

But this time when he should have lifted me up by wrapping my legs around his waist and talking off to the bedroom, he lifted me bridal style and smiled at me. "What?" I asked him breathlessly.

He made him way to the bedroom and laid me on the bed adoringly. Then instead of placing his body on top of mine he pulled back and put his hands on my stomach. He unbuttoned the shirt I was wearing and let it fall open in the middle showing off a very pregnant belly where my now flat stomach would be. He began to caress my large midsection and lavished it with kisses. Leaving no part untouched by either his fingers or his mouth he finally made his way back up to my face.

In that husky voice of my dreams Woody told me, "I love watching the changes in you. Everyday I think you get more and more beautiful and every day I love you more and more." He then proceeded to make love to me with such tenderness the tears in my eyes that began in my dream were still streaming down my face when I woke up.

Lester was right, I had to tell him. I picked up the phone on the nightstand and dialed Woody's extension but he wasn't there. I didn't want to leave a message so I decided to send a text to my friend to see if he could help. "Les, I'm ready to talk to W. Any idea where he is?"

I got up slowly and was pleased to realize that my stomach was no longer rolling. When I got to the kitchen I saw an extra large box of cheerios on the counter with a big red bow on top. That single thing put my mind at ease. The guys weren't just yanking my chain. I wasn't alone, and they would be beside me all the way. Of course, they would have to be beside me because if the size of my stomach in my dream was any indicator, I was going to be too big for someone to stand in front of me effectively.

Just as I took my first bite there was a soft knock on the door. I assumed it was Bobby or Lester checking on me so I opened the door quickly and was surprised to feel arms come around me immediately pulling me to a rock hard chest. "Darlin, I'm so glad you wanted to see me."

I let him hold me for a moment realizing how much I needed it. There were no words that would say what his arms could at this moment. "You better come on in," I told him. "There are some things that shouldn't be said in a hallway."

He shut the door behind himself and followed me to the couch. I sat down in the opposite corner, but he was having none of that and moved in order to be closer to me, in virtually the same position Lester had sat in just a couple of hours earlier.

He took my hand in his and held it tightly, "I've been so worried about you. The guys on five said you got sick, and there was another communication from Jenkins. When Les wouldn't let me come in I thought the worst…I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. Your life is so stressful I thought maybe you didn't want me complicating things any further for you right now."

"You have no idea," I said rubbing my forehead with my free hand. Fortunately, I realized how rude that must have sounded so I corrected me error and said, "My life is always crazy. But I do have some news that will affect you too, but only if you want it to." I didn't want to talk in riddles so I stopped before I said anything else to make the tension in the room any thicker.

I was suddenly struck with the fact that I had no idea how to say what I needed to so I just spit it out. "Woody, I'm pregnant."


	11. Pregnant

_JE created and owns all the characters below._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you seems pretty weak as a response for all your hard work as the Beta on this story, but I offer it to you anyway._

**Chapter 11 – Pregnant**

"Woody, I'm pregnant."

There was a brief few seconds where time stood still. Woody appeared to be frozen in place on the sofa. I didn't panic because I could see his chest rising slightly indicating that he was still breathing, but other than that he made no movements at all.

I was just about to call his name or snap my fingers in front of his face when I saw the beginnings of a smile appearing on his perfect lips. "Can you say that again?" He asked as though he hadn't heard me properly the first time.

Nervously, I repeated myself, "I'm pregnant."

This time the response was immediate. "That's what I thought you said," He told me around the full on grin his face was sporting. He threw his arms around my torso and pulled me over into his lap connecting his lips to mine as soon as I stopped moving. I was too shocked to respond at first, but as soon as his lips parted I followed his lead and gave myself to him.

His left arm was cradling me and his right hand was on my stomach ever so slowly rubbing back and forth creating a trail of fire everywhere his hand touched. He didn't seem to be slowing down, and by now my hormones were in the middle of a fast tempo happy dance.

I couldn't help but moan as his tongue moved across my own in my mouth. The warmth of his breath on my face and the taste of him was overwhelming. I probably should have been worried that someone I knew so little about could elicit such a strong reaction from me so easily, but at the moment the only conscious thought running through my mind was, "God, yes!". My hands began to move and I let them run over his sculpted chest and down his arms before returning back up the same path.

I thought I heard someone open the door but filed it away as a piece of information that didn't matter one bit at the moment. Ten seconds later Woody's hands tangled in my hair to pull my face even closer to him, increasing the contact between us and setting a fire in me lower than where his hand had just been tracing shapes on my stomach.

He made a growling sound low in his throat that made me shift so that I was straddling his waist but he used my movement to pull his mouth from me and said in a loud and commanding voice, "Go away!" before pulling me back to him for another kiss.

Then I heard Lester's voice reply, "At least let me know that you told him and that you haven't been down here doing this the whole time."

I was way beyond forming words so Woody answered, "Yes, she told me," and then reattached himself to my neck to suck in the tender skin just under my ear. At the rate he was going, I was sure to have marks along my neck reminiscent to the marks he left on our first and only night together. I could just put that on the growing list of things I didn't give a shit about at the moment. I only cared about the fact that it felt wonderful and I'd smack him if he tried to stop.

Lester laughed at the two of us and then prompted us for more information by saying, "Good, she told you. And…"

Once again Woody disengaged from the side of neck only long enough to say, "And I'm thrilled at the thought of being a father."

"You are?" I asked in a sultry voice with my lips brushing against his neck trying to get him focused on me again.

Apparently, it worked because his magic lips reattached themselves to my neck at the juncture of my shoulder just in time for Lester to interrupt once more. "So you're thrilled at being a father and now you are going to…What?" Les was trying to see if we had a plan for the future. I'm sure he wanted to know if we had discussed marriage, living arrangements, telling my parents or any of the other unlimited number of details that would need to be figured out at some point.

Woody was apparently on the same wavelength as me when he answered, "Now we're going to celebrate. Go away!"

I moaned at the idea of finally being able to connect with the man who could reduce me to goo just by calling me Darlin' and whose touch short-circuited my brain.

I could have sworn I heard Lester walk away but the next thing I know his face was inches from mine as he said, "This is my apartment. If you want to celebrate, then get the hell out and go to your own place."

Briefly I worried that Les' comment would spell the end of our moment, but my hormones continued their celebration when Woody stood up with both hands under my ass, and my legs wrapped tightly around his waist. He seemed to move us effortlessly through the hall to his unit and gently slid me to the floor in front of his door to get his keys out so he could unlock the door.

I took his hand and walked backward thrilled to see that his eyes never left mine, allowing himself to be guided into his apartment and over to the sofa. We sat back down in the position we had just left, with him in the middle of the couch and me straddling his lap.

For some reason before we could continue kissing, my mouth decided to open and before I could stop it, I asked, "Did you mean what you said?"

"Yes, I definitely want to celebrate." He responded before running the tip of his tongue along my collarbone causing me to shiver.

"No," I said before a low moan escaped my lips and I could add, "Not that."

"Then yes, I most certainly wanted Lester to leave," He tried again.

I moved my hands to Woody's chest and pulled back slightly to get his attention and was relieved to see a sexy smile on his face. I couldn't believe how good looking he was. The apartment wasn't currently well lit since we hadn't taken the time to turn on the lights, but there was some sun coming through the windows and it highlighted his face, making his ruggedly handsome face beautiful. Briefly I forgot what I wanted to say, but Woody understood what I had been asking and decided to stop joking around.

"Of course I'm happy, why wouldn't I be?" He asked, throwing the responsibility of conversation back in my lap.

A champion at hot-potato myself; I tossed it back his way by clarifying, "Because this is a less than traditional way to start a relationship."

The words had barely cleared my mouth when his lips were being forcefully pressed against mine. I melted again and began to think that this chat could wait. We had nine months to figure it all out.

Apparently our ESP wasn't in sync yet because he stopped kissing me and even my whine of complaint didn't motivate him to return where I wanted him. "We're in a relationship?" He finally said with his dimple showing again.

"You seem happy about that question," I stated as fact.

"I'm over the moon about it." He confessed.

"Why?" I asked with my curiosity in full gear now running neck and neck with my hormones.

"Because a few days ago I thought if I took things nice and slow and treated you like the lady you are that you might one day agree to be mine, but I tried not to get my hopes up. But to hear you say that we're in a relationship is like a dream, but it's even better because it's real." He explained.

I was processing what he said. It almost sounded like Woody wanted me regardless of how the baby would change things between us. I may have been too hasty with my ESP comment as Woody added, "I know the baby changes things, but have no doubt Stephanie, I adore you and I had already planned on using the rest of my life to show you how wonderful you are. I want my life work to be fulfilling all your dreams. I couldn't be happier about being a father because it's a life that's created by the two of us. I want it, I want as much of you as you want to give me. I'll try not to push, but when I hold you I just see a future full of happiness and I can't wait to jump into it." He expounded.

My heart accepted everything he said. I could see the sincerity in his eyes and I trusted every word. Since things had slowed down a little, I figured I may as well ask the next question that popped into my head. "So you don't feel shackled to me just because I'm pregnant.

"Darlin', I could never feel stuck or shackled to you, although that may be something we could try out later" He said with a wink. I understood what he was saying. He didn't want to be with me out of some sense of obligation; he wanted to be with me because he truly cared about me.

"So what do you want to do?" I repeated Lester's question from earlier.

He brushed the curls away from my face a little and left one of his hands in my hair. "I want to be by your side for every second you'll let me. I want to love you and I want you to tell me what you want so that I don't push us to move faster than you're comfortable."

"How fast do you want to move?" I asked, confused about what he could mean.

"Before this big news I would have been okay with flying to Vegas tonight to marry you, but I know how you feel about marriage so I've been repeating a mantra of 'take it slow' in my head for the last two days." He told me.

I swallowed audibly when he said that. I was definitely attached to Woody in some strange way. I hadn't felt like this with anyone before, but I didn't fully understand what 'this' was, so marriage seemed a bit premature. Still, I didn't feel like I was hyperventilating and a quick check of my arms showed no hives had appeared which was a definite improvement over the last time someone mentioned marriage to me. Maybe that was a good sign.

It looked like Woody was waiting for a response so I opened my mouth and just said what I felt. "I don't think I'm ready for Vegas, but I am ready to discuss a future." His face lit up when I said that. "But, this is all a bit overwhelming to me so I need you to be patient with me. I'm strangely happy which is not the reaction I ever expected to have if I got pregnant so if we take it one day at a time I have a feeling we'll figure it out together."

I had to assume the fact that our lips instantly met was his agreement with what I had said. Truth be told, the way it felt to have one of his strong arms wrapped around my back and the other hand under my hair rubbing hypnotic circles on my neck made me not care one way or the other. If he suggested Vegas to me again right now I'd probably agree as long as his thumb never stopped moving.

This time it was Woody who decided to interrupt with more talking. "So you're okay with this?" He placed the back of his fingers gently against my stomach to clarify his question.

I looked down at the gesture and realized what an amazing man he was. Most guys blanched at the thought of being fathers, but he seemed genuinely thrilled and was worried about how I was handling the news. It was no secret that I was not big on having a family of my own so his question was valid and I felt like I needed to address it. "I think I am. I always expected that I would freak out if I got pregnant, and I'm not saying I didn't a little when Bobby first told me, but seeing how you're taking this is helping."

"Is that why you sent me away when I came downstairs to check on you?" He asked with only a tinge of hurt coming through in his voice.

I looked into his eyes and decided honesty was the only answer that would work here. My hormones went to pout in the corner. "I've been married before."

"To Dickie," He interrupted with a mouthful of disdain when he said my ex-husband's name.

"That's right." I acknowledged. "I knew before we got married that we wanted different things out of life, but I went along with it anyway because everyone said it was the right thing to do. I've seen what happens in a marriage when you do it for the wrong reason." I shivered at the image of Dickie plowing into Joyce on my dinning room table with his dress pants bunched up at his ankles and her feet practically in the air. There isn't enough alcohol in the world to burn an image like that out of one's mind.

"So you were afraid that I would want to marry you because you were pregnant and then in time something similar to Dickie would happen again?" He clarified.

I nodded, unable to voice the fact that he was exactly right. If I needed a single thing to explain my fear of marriage that was it.

"But you do realize that I'm not your ex-husband. You know that I would never do something like that to you, don't you?" He asked and pleaded simultaneously.

"I know it, but stepping out in faith to trust it is a big thing for me. I swore I'd never let myself get hurt like that again so it's hard to open up." As I confessed this I realized how unfair I had been. I'd expected him to fully disclose everything about himself but I'd not been willing to do the same thing for him. "But I want to try," I added and the smile he gave me in return put that warm feeling back in my chest.

We slowly moved toward each other, the time for talking was over and it was finally time to celebrate our news. There were lots of details to work out, but it seemed that we were on the same page as far as how we felt for each other. I felt at peace with the idea that we could work it all out. Just as my eyes began to close and our lips tentatively touched my cell phone began to vibrate. I grunted a very unhappy sound at the interruption, but it was covered up by Woody's own complaint when his phone also began to sound. We checked our messages and had each received a text from Zip informing us that there was some information to review and the team was being assembled in the conference room immediately.

"I think that's our cue to join them," Woody said with no excitement at all in his voice. Then he put his hand back on my stomach and asked, "Are you okay? I mean, do you feel alright? Do you want to go upstairs for the meeting or do you want to stay downstairs and rest?" There was a nervousness in his questions that was endearing.

I put my finger over his lips to silence him and then smiled at how he allowed me to control him so simply. "I'm fine. I promise to let you know if I begin to feel off, but you have to promise not to treat me like a porcelain doll. I hate that, and if I think you're using kid gloves with me I'll hide stuff from you to keep you from worrying. I don't want to play those types of games, so for right now you need to trust that I can handle this."

He smiled and nodded his head. Then I giggled at the fact that I had left my finger over his lips which explained why he had no verbal response. I lifted it from his mouth and ran my hand over his cheek. He hadn't shaved this morning and there was a fine layer of stubble on his face which made him, if possible, seem even more manly. Shit, my hormones had reentered the building and they were making it hard to stay focused long enough for me to stand up.

"Steph?" He asked when I didn't move.

"I need some help," I confessed causing him to worry immediately. "My body doesn't want to get up and go upstairs. It wants to stay here, strip off all the unnecessary clothes and celebrate with you. If you intend to go to the meeting I need you to help me up and out the door."

There was a growl that I have to assume came from Woody. All I know for certain is that he stood up and held me tightly to him forcing us both to stand up but pressing us together in a way that didn't help my little hormone problem. The spark was certainly still there but it seemed to be growing despite our having gotten vertical. His hand had made its way back to my neck which almost certainly meant I'd go along with anything he said at this point.

Just then there was a loud banging on the door making me jump and Woody swear. "I think that's our next warning page to get to the conference room." He managed to say as we broke apart. We made it to the door of his apartment before he spoke again. "What are your plans about telling people?"

I made a face that he found amusing before explaining. "We just found out, and I'd rather wait a few days before we hit the rumor mill with the baby news. I think Bobby was going to get me a doctor's appointment. After that, we can figure out how to tell everybody."

"That's reasonable," He agreed before pushing, "And what about us?"

That was a much tougher question. "I don't know. I don't want to hide anything, but I don't want to be in the guys' faces with it either. I mean, we can keep our work and personal life separate and I want the guys to accept that." I knew it wasn't much of an answer, but it was all I had right now.

He shrugged as though he understood what I meant. "Just so you know, I think when Lester chose to attack me in the gym most of the guys got a general idea of what had happened. I mean, our conversation about why he was pissed wasn't quiet. But, I understand about not wanting to be all over each other in front of everybody. They'll respect that we're together without us advertising it openly."

He reached for the doorknob and we walked up the stairs to join the others. I realized why I tried everything that was possible to avoid going to meetings. I was bored out of my mind within the first ten minutes and the meeting was basically all about my situation. How the guys managed to maintain their level of interest was beyond me.

While doodling to keep from staring at Woody, I did manage to pick up that Hector had determined Jenkins had just gotten lucky with my e-mail address. He's sent an identical e-mail to ten different variations of my name at the RangeMan server apparently hoping one of his threats would make it to my inbox. The guys seemed relieved at this since I think they were worried he'd gotten someone to hack into the system to get the information of how to reach me.

Apparently Ranger was out of the country but Tank had gotten a message to him about the Bertucci threat and he hoped some ideas would be forthcoming from our fearless leader. In the meantime, I couldn't leave the building without at least one of the guys with me and I needed to let control know of at least a general plan for where I would be anytime I had to go. I rolled my eyes. I mean they had multiple trackers on me that I was aware of, and I had a hunch there were some planted that I was clueless about. Was a schedule really necessary? When I realized Tank was waiting on me to confirm I'd heard him I nodded and the meeting was over.

Bobby came over and slid a piece of paper to me. It had a doctor's name and phone number on it and 10:00 am with tomorrow's date underneath. I realized he'd made my appointment for me so I thanked him and he replied, "Just let me know if you want me to take you, or if you have someone else in mind for that." His eyes cut to Woody briefly implying it might be a good thing to let him be a part of this.

I put the paper in my pocket and smiled at Bobby. "I think I've got it covered, but I'll let you know for sure." He nodded at me and walked away.

Les then plopped down in front of me and said, "I need your help this afternoon if you can spare me an hour or so."

I looked at him questioningly. First of all Lester knew there was nothing I wouldn't do for him, but what kind of help he would need from me was a mystery so I was intrigued.

"I'm trying to get a security contract from the women's clothing store I told you about, but I'm struggling to propose something she'll be happy with. I have an appointment to do a store walkthrough and I thought you might be able to come along. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable with you there, and you might see something I'm missing in how the store needs to be monitored.

It didn't seem like a pity gig when he put it like that so I agreed to meet him in the garage in ten to fifteen minutes to ride over.

That left only Zip and Woody and Zip seemed like he was about to explode to say something. I decided to channel my inner Lester and said, "Spill."

Zip pointed at his partner and said, "This guy is going all silent on me and saying he has nothing to tell me, but I think it's a load of shit. I was watching both of you during that meeting and you both look different to me. There's something going on and I think I should know what it is."

I decided to have a little fun with Zip and pass along a valuable piece of information at the same time. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about," I began while taking a piece of paper out of my pocket and handing it to Woody. "But I do need some help from the two of you tomorrow morning at 10:00. I have an appointment that I have to make and I'll need some back up."

Woody made the connection immediately and his eyes widened as he nodded his agreement to going. Zip was clueless, but like most of the guys here he took my safety very seriously so he agreed to go with us. That way I knew we'd be able to concentrate on the appointment itself knowing Zip was there to watch our backs.

"Are you sure there isn't something you want to tell me?" He tried one more time.

"Nope," I said with a laugh. Sometimes it was really too easy to get a rise out of the guys. Woody stood up to walk out behind his partner but I grabbed his hand at the doorway. I wasn't sure what came over me. I wasn't usually that forward. Maybe it was the rear end hugging pants he was wearing, or his worn cowboy boots, but he was one hot man and I wanted one last kiss before meeting Lester downstairs.

Woody's ESP was operating at full power as he responded in a split second by swinging around and pinning me against the wall of the conference room with both my wrists held above my head in his hands. When he finished kissing me I was out of breath and couldn't remember for the life of me why I didn't want to flaunt our relationship in front of the guys. If it meant being kissed like that on a regular basis I needed to revisit my previous position.

Just before Woody pulled his body from mine I heard the unmistakable sound of Zip's low voice say, "I knew it! I knew there was something going on with you two."

Woody repeated the same command he'd given to Lester and told Zip, "Go Away!"

Zip just stood his ground grinning at us and not moving. Realizing he wasn't going to leave Woody put a final soft kiss on my lips and released my hands to put his on my hips. "You want to have dinner tonight?" He asked quietly even though Zip was close enough that he could still hear.

I nodded yes glad to know I'd have another chance to be close to him this evening.

"Just come over sometime after five and we'll figure it out," He said before moving away by pushing off with a thrust against my body. It was like sending an electrical current through me hitting all the good spots at once. I was sure I blushed and whimpered at the same time.

Zip noticed and laughed while repeating his earlier exclamation, "I knew it."

This time I let them go, still appreciating the view of their exit. I made my way down to the garage and found Lester sitting on the hood of an SUV playing a game on his phone and waiting for me.

"Ready to roll, Beautiful?" He asked.

"Absolutely," I responded while he jumped down. "And on the way you can tell me how many times you've asked this woman out so I'm prepared for how much ground we have to cover today."

"I'm insulted," Les began with a false sense of insult. "Why do you think I would need to ask someone more than once to get a date?"

"I don't think you usually do, but to me a single store is a small account and you seem pretty determined to get it which doesn't make sense. So I figure she's either connected to someone else that would represent a much bigger account or you see this as a way to impress her in the hopes of getting a date." I explained.

He didn't answer right away but his expression did change. I realized I was right on both counts. "Alright, then who is she related to?" I prompted, knowing he didn't want to talk about his flirting failures.

"Her father owns Springman's Jewelers." He replied.

Springman's was a huge chain of jewelry stores in New Jersey. Every girl wanted a solitaire from there since it had a reputation for only carrying the best merchandise. Trying to get to the father through the daughter wasn't a bad idea so I decided to put my most professional face on and see if I could help Les get RangeMan's foot in the door.

If it helped Lester score at the same time, there was nothing I could do about that. But I intended to make it perfectly clear that I had played the role of his long lost sweetheart for the last time. If he went out with this girl he was on his own to figure out what to do on the day after.


	12. New Developments

_None of the characters are mine. No amount of wishing changes the fact they belong to JE._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you so much for your unyielding support and your hard work as the Beta on this story._

**Chapter 12 – New Developments**

The ride downtown was fun, Les cranked up the CD playing and we sang along to Sweet Home Alabama at the top of our lungs. Ever since we'd secretly watched the movie starring Reese Witherspoon by the same title, that song had been a joke between us. It was easy being with Les. He knew my story, and I knew his. We were comfortable and the level of trust we had developed over the last few months had been the rock I clung to when things got dark for me. When the song ended, I looked at my friend and suddenly wondered how everything going on in my life right now might change my relationship with Lester.

He caught me staring and turned the music down to ask what was wrong. "Nothing," I answered too quickly.

"Bullshit, Steph," He called me on my attempt to hide my thoughts. "I know when something is turning in that head of yours. Save us both some time and spill."

I laughed at his assumption that I would eventually give in and tell him so I may as well do it now. Of course he was right so I took his advice. "I just wondered how things were going to change between us now that my life is about to get complicated."

"Beautiful, your life has always been complicated. How is this any different?" He asked, completely sincere.

"A baby does tend to change things." I snipped.

"True, but it won't change who you are. I figure we are who we are and the only way that will change is if you want it to. I know that you might try for something normal with Woody and I'm cool with that. I just don't want you to forget that I love you too. It may not be in the same baby-daddy kind of way, but it's still true." He informed me, sounding almost insecure as he confessed it.

I reached over and put my hand on his bicep. Holy Moly, Lester was well built. I always knew he was a good looking guy, but I was suddenly struck by how well put together he was. To top this body off, God had given him a fantastic personality and a smile that wouldn't stop. It was like riding in a car with a sculpture of a perfect man. I shook my head to clear it. I didn't need to start looking at Les that way. He was no better looking now than he was yesterday or the day before. I needed to keep my focus on something else. Understanding that rubbing his arm probably wasn't the best way to think of more innocent things I drew my hand back and said, "You know I need you. I can't imagine what the next year is going to be like, but knowing you'll stick with me makes me willing to face it."

He grinned, "You're stuck with me kid, no way around it." Then he reached over and pulled one of my curls. Just before I complained about it he pulled into a parking space and pointed to a store. "This is the place," He informed me while pointing to a large independent clothing store in front of us.

I took a moment to think about what we were here for. The front of the store was all glass windows with displays artfully arranged in them. The clothes were gorgeous. I can't believe I'd never been here to shop. There was a wide sidewalk in front of the windows and a single entrance way, which from a security standpoint was a good thing.

I picked up a legal pad as we got out of the truck and followed Les into the store. A lovely young woman in her late twenties greeted us. She had flowing straight black hair, the kind I would kill to have but knew I never would. Her skin tone was slightly darker than mine, but it appeared to be more olive than tan. Her brown eyes were piercing and when she spoke she looked at me completely ignoring the handsome man to my right. "Welcome to Chic Fashions, I'm Marina."

I stuck my hand out and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum, and I believe you've already met Lester Santos."

"Oh, we've definitely met," She said, her tone indicating there was more being said than the four words let on.

"I understand you're interested in speaking to us about the security needs for your store," I began, ignoring the daggers from Marina to Les and the stud smile he flashed back to her in return.

She looked back at me and became pleasant once again. "Yes, but so far all I'm getting are the standard sensors on the doors and windows and the ones who are over zealous," As she said that she looked at Les, "who also suggest cameras in the changing rooms."

I couldn't help myself and I laughed out loud. "No, I don't think that would do." I agreed with her and was pleased to see she laughed right along with me. "How about you show me around your store and then we can discuss what you feel are your weakest areas?" I suggested.

I was so impressed with Marina's shop. She had her own line of clothes which she designed and had manufactured locally in addition to some high end labels that she supplemented her own wares with. She put a lot of time into fabric selection so that the clothes felt as good as they looked. I couldn't help but gaze wantonly at several items. Even with their high end price tags I couldn't help but picture myself in them. I needed to get back to work at Vinnie's because I could do some serious damage in this store if my bank account could support it.

When we finished she had us sit at a table in the back that she used for design purposes and moved her drawings to the side. I decided to go for a different approach that the men who had probably come to bid on her business and I said, "I would agree with the previous security companies that have suggested sensors on the windows and doors. I would also think that cameras at the front and rear entrance and focused on the register area would be helpful. But in walking around your store I'm most concerned about this work area. You have thousands of dollars of material stored here in addition to your sketches and plans which, if in the wrong hands, could rob you of a great deal of profit. I think you need to install a different lock on the door so that your general staff can't get back here. In addition to that we could put a monitor on the door so that if it were opened it would automatically raise an alarm at our headquarters and a team would respond immediately. The merchandise your insurance company could replace, but the things held in this room are too precious to just rebuy."

When I finished speaking she sat back and let out a long breath. Then she stood up and held out her hand to me. I matched her posture and shook her hand unsure what I had done wrong to be thrown out. I had arrogantly assumed she was agreeing with everything I said. I was offering her the protection I would want if this were my store. Just as I was about to apologize for offending her in some way she spoke, "If you could just type all of this up, giving me specific prices on everything you have mentioned along with the plans on how you would secure this room, I will review it and then we can sign a contract."

"I'm sorry?" I asked in confusion.

"You are the first person to see this room as anything other than a junk or storage area and your ideas for keeping this place safe in addition to the fact you see the value in it in the first place means you deserve the business." Marina explained.

I looked over at Lester quickly and he picked up the conversation, "We will have the plans drawn up into a proposal and in your hands tomorrow." He was being completely professional with no hint of the playboy I had seen previously and I was proud of him.

We talked for a few more minutes before we excused ourselves. As we began to walk out my hand ran over a blouse on the rack close to the door. It was the softest shirt I had ever felt, like a combination of silk and fleece. It was a deep sapphire blue that I knew would look good with my eyes. It buttoned up the front with at least fifteen buttons of the same color that were delicate and feminine. When I lifted the hanger I saw the back had an intricate set of hooks that were connected by a string allowing you to tighten the shirt in all the right places to show off your figure perfectly. Only a woman would have dreamt that design so I held the hanger up and asked Marina if the shirt was one of hers.

Nodding she said, "Yes, I designed it when my sister was pregnant with the idea that she could wear it tightly before she showed and then loosen it gradually as she needed to and then tighten it back up afterward allowing for the changes nursing would make to her body. It turned out to be a really popular idea so I've kept it in my line."

Making a spur of the moment decision I gave Les my tablet where I'd made notes and nodded for him to go to the truck. I found my size and took it to the counter to purchase it. She tried to just give it to me, but I insisted on paying for it. The shirt I could afford, if she wanted to be generous maybe once we started providing the security for her store then I might be interested in talking about a dress. After the door closed Marina asked, "What is the deal with him?"

I looked outside and saw Les counting windows and making notes. "He's just finishing the security analysis," I explained.

"No, I mean sometimes he seems to be Mr. Professional and other times he strikes me as a guy who is handing out pitiful pick up lines at a different bar every Friday night." She clarified.

I tried to keep from laughing but a small chuckle escaped my lips anyway. "In some ways they are both him, but to tell you truth, Lester is one of the greatest guys I know and one of my greatest friends. I think if anyone could ever get through to him, they would find him to be a warm and generous man."

"So if he asked me out, do you think it would be okay to go?" She wondered, making me think she was more interested in Les than he knew. It could be interesting too because she didn't fall all over his feet like most women do. She seemed more interested in who he was than how he looked.

"I think it would be safe to go, if that's what you're asking, but I should warn you…he is a bit of a playboy. If you are looking for something serious, you need to tell him that upfront." I explained, hoping I was right in speaking so freely.

She stood there thinking for a few minutes before saying, "When I assumed he was always shallow it was easy to just write him off, but if you think there is more to him than meets the eye, it might be worth it to work with him a little more." I could practically see the wheels turning as she began to figure out how to break my friend down.

"Are you looking for something serious?" I asked, suddenly concerned for Les that she might be looking at him as a conquest.

"I don't know, but I'm not looking for a one night stand either. I guess I'm looking for the right guy that would make me think about something serious. I work a lot and my schedule is crazy so a guy would have to be very understanding of that right off the bat and it's harder to find that than you'd think." She explained.

"I'll be sure Les is the one to drop off the security proposal tomorrow. Maybe you should try talking to him and see what you think." I suggested.

She snapped out of her daze, handed me my bag and smiled at me. Les may have called on her in the hope of a good night or two of entertainment and the prospect of getting an audience with her father, but he might have just bitten off more than he could chew. Something told me Marina liked a challenge and Lester Santos had that written all over him.

When I climbed into the truck I could hardly keep from smiling. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Les asked, backing up from the parking spot.

"Marina and I had a little chat," I said cryptically.

"About clothes?" He wondered.

"No," I corrected his assumption, "About you."

"Let me guess, she wanted to ask you to keep me out of her store from now own because I had no idea what I was talking about when it came to keeping her property protected?" He offered with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"As a matter of fact she wanted to know if I thought you were worth taking a risk on; if there was more to you than the play boy image." I explained.

"What did you tell her?" He asked, "That I'm with a different girl every night incapable of maintaining a long term relationship with a woman?"

"I don't think that's true. I'm a woman, and the two of us have no trouble maintaining a relationship." I immediately responded. "But to answer your question, I did tell her that you were more than worth the risk as long as she realized you weren't ready for something serious." I waited a few seconds to let him process that before adding, "And I told her you would be the one to bring the plan and proposal by tomorrow."

A huge grin spread over his face. I let him have his moment of celebration until we turned into the garage at Haywood and then I added, "But you need to realize she is business woman who isn't interesting in a one night stand or being another notch on your bedpost. If you can accept her as a motivated intelligent woman who might want someone in her life more than causally, but not too serious, then she might be a great woman to get to know better."

Les ran his fingers through his hair which told me he was thinking about what I was saying. I wondered if he might be considering what I said and decided to let him stew in it a little longer without saying anything else. I got out of the SUV and started walking to the elevator. Les caught up with me easily and I noticed he was holding my bag out for me to take.

I bumped him with my hip playfully while taking it from him and saying thanks. Les didn't respond right away which told me he was thinking about Marina. I decided then and there to "help" my friend along. Something told me the friendship we shared had him beginning to reexamine his approach to women. He would always be an incurable flirt but I was beginning to suspect that Lester liked having the companionship of a female and if Marina could accept the playful side of him, then they might have a chance. I would have to prep him for the delivery of the proposal tomorrow and suggest he call and see about taking her to lunch to discuss the finer points of the contract.

I glanced at my watch when we stepped into the elevator and noticed it was already quarter after five. I could go back to Lester's apartment and change or I could just straight to Woody's. Knowing I didn't have that many clothes here I decided to just go over to unit 4C.

When I went the opposite direction from Les off the elevator he started laughing and asked, "Do we need to discuss a curfew for you tonight, young lady?" I smiled at his attempt at humor and before I could turn around again he added, "Because I'm guessing it's too late to talk about being safe."

I was floored by his last comment. It was a hundred percent accurate so there was no point in denying it. I kept walking pretending to ignore him, but down deep his words cut more than I would have liked. I had been irresponsible and now there was a consequence. I know Woody was excited about being a father, but suddenly I was struck with how much my life was going to change.

I leaned against the wall next to Woody's door and thought about where I would live when it came closer to the baby being born. I couldn't keep a baby in my apartment, and once this Jenkins mess was resolved I couldn't stay at Lester's apartment anymore. What would I do for income? I guess it wouldn't work to be chasing after skips in maternity clothes. I could always come back to RangeMan five days a week, but could my rear end handle sitting at a desk that much? I guess I didn't have a choice.

I grabbed my cell phone from my belt and dialed Tank's extension. It went straight to voicemail so I left a message, "Tank, it's Stephanie. I need to talk to you tomorrow whenever you have a free minute. I want to take you up on your offer to come to work at RangeMan full time. I guess I need it to be effective immediately. Let me know if it's not possible for some reason, otherwise I'll be at my desk at 9:00 in the morning. Thanks." I probably should have sounded happier and a part of me was relieved to have something like this to fall back on, but I certainly never saw myself sitting behind a desk for the rest of my career.

Just as I was about to start a full-fledged pity party Woody's door flung open and there was the man himself. I managed to keep my mouth shut, but mentally I was thinking, "You! You did this to me!" Well, I thought I kept my mouth shut, but Woody's response of, "Why don't you come on in and we'll talk about it," Had me wondering.

I walked in when he stepped aside and sat my bag and purse down on the thin table in the hall. I took a deep breath and realized he was making spaghetti for our dinner. It was such a sweet gesture. It was almost enough to make me forgive him, but then I realized I had to get up early in the morning in order to get to work on time and the last time I had a bite of something with tomato sauce on it I threw up so my anger came back full force.

Woody was watching me intently as the emotions battled it out on my face. Finally he took my hand and led me silently to the couch pulling me down beside him. He turned a little to better face me and said, "Why don't you tell me what you're upset about. I have a feeling I've done something wrong, but I'm not up to speed on what that is yet."

I smiled at how easily he took to the idea that he could be a fault. There was no defensiveness or anger on his face like there would have been with Joe. And, the fact he was asking me to talk was totally foreign to how I related to Ranger. It's like he really wanted to know what was wrong and if he caused me to be upset he wanted to know that too. Crap, seeing him so willing to listen and accept responsibility just made it harder to stay mad at him.

I pulled my hand from his and covered my face. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." I repeated as though saying it in triplicate would somehow help me to understand what I felt.

Woody waited patiently until I let my hand drop and then he suggested "You're mad about the baby?"

"Yes, no," I said contradicting myself immediately. "I'm not angry about the baby. But I am beginning to realize the number of changes I will need to make to my life to accommodate it." There, that sounded mature and not at all petty.

"Me too," He chimed in, stopping me short for a moment as my mind raced ahead to think of what kind of changes he needed to make. He could keep chasing the bad guys, he had a place to live – two places in fact, and he was far enough away from his family there would be no one pressuring him to change his whole life. Before I could point out the fact that I saw nothing he had to do because of this he asked me to tell him what changes were the most pressing for me.

"Well," I started slowly wondering how much I should tell him. Deciding to just lay it all out on the line I said, "I can't keep chasing skips so I have to give up my job with Vinnie and see if Tank will let me come to work full time here which means sitting behind a desk forty hours a week." There was definitely a bitter edge to my voice at the end of that sentence.

Determined to keep going I added, "Plus, I can't stay in my one bedroom apartment so I need a new place to live and if I'm moving, my parents are going to want a say in that because they will assume I'll be settling down and staying at home which is absolutely not going to happen so I have to tell them I'm pregnant and now I'm ruining not only my life, their grandchild's too." Okay, that time there was a more than an edge to my voice at the end of that sentence.

"Not to mention I will need new clothes to cover up the enormous belly that will be growing, and then I'll have to work out to get my body back in shape, if it ever gets back in shape. Have you seen my sister Valerie?" I was on a roll now. "I can't eat Pino's meatball subs already and something tells me that is just the beginning of the dietary changes I'll need to make." There was no stopping me now so I just opened my mouth and let the last part fly. "Right now I feel like I'm paying a pretty big price for the one night where I decided to let my hair down and have a good time. And I can't even remember it!" Yep, we have achieved full fledged rhino mode now. "If I have to endure the pain of childbirth don't I at least deserve to have the pleasant part etched into my memory?"

Woody's face looked like I'd slapped him. The bruise around his eye from his fight with Lester was fading, but the pain was all over his face from my words. I knew I needed to say something, but I had no idea what to say. This wasn't his fault, but I wanted it to be. I wanted to have someone to blame so that I didn't have to be held responsible.

My voice was much softer when I spoke again, "I'm not ready. I don't want to be my mother, but she's the only example I have of what to do. I assumed when I got pregnant I would have time to prepare myself for being a parent and I'd have things all worked out. This is really happening and I don't want to screw it up, but when I look at my life all I see are potential areas where I can fail." When I said the last part I realized how true it was and I began to cry. I was working really hard to hold myself together and I wasn't sobbing, but the tears were definitely streaming down my face and I had no hope of holding them back.

Wordlessly Woody pulled me into his lap and cradled me against him. He let me cry against him for a few minutes apparently understanding I just needed to get this out of my system.

When he spoke his voice was even and soft, "I know this is hard. I can't imagine all the things that must be running through your head right now. I can tell you that the fact that you are thinking about them is a sign of what a good mother you will make. There is no way you will turn into a bossy matriarch like your mother or a two ton whale like your sister. You don't think gravy deserves its own food group for one, and for another you are just too active. I don't know a lot about kids either, but I do know that they adapt to the environment they're raised in. Our child will grow up surrounded by people who love them and they will learn to accept that their parents have jobs that are a little different than most of their friends."

I believed every word he said and I let his confidence calm me too. Seeing that I was listening he kept talking, but this time he added his secret weapon and he ran his hand under my hair and began using his thumb to draw lazy circles on my neck. I had to work on staying focused on his voice instead of his hand. "And, even though I agree that you shouldn't run after dangerous skips when you are near delivery, I don't see why that means you have to sit behind a desk for forty hours a week either. There are plenty of jobs here that you could do. I think Lester is currently upstairs talking to Tank about making you a permanent part of the sales team. Apparently you hit a home run today at the shop Les was trying to pick up and he thought your approach was perfect. Tank would love some help with the sales side of the business because he struggles to make a first impression that exudes confidence and comfort when people meet him. They grow to trust him but most people initially want to back away from Tank. I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself being pushed into sales as soon as possible."

As he spoke I realized that could be an interesting side of the business for me to learn more about. I liked working with people, I could usually get others to open up and talk to me so it wasn't a stretch that I could get them to listen to me too, plus I would feel like I was contributing to the success of RangeMan and not just sitting around while everyone else did all the work. Maybe my change to shift away from Vinnie and over to RangeMan didn't have to be such a big deal after all.

Then Woody brought out the big guns, "And as for where you will live, I'm so glad to hear you say that you need to move out of your apartment. I was getting worried you would want to stay there and the thought of trying to protect you and a baby in that place was keeping me up at night."

I smiled at that image and he continued, "You already know about my home in Virginia. I got it because I needed a place to escape and thought it would be a good investment. It turns out that real estate is an excellent investment so I had planned on buying a house somewhere around here and moving out of the RangeMan building. It's not good for a baby to grow up here, but I'll bet if we look together, we can find a house that would make a perfect home for us both."

It took a moment for me to understand he was suggesting we live together and we purchase a house together. I realized I had no idea what kind of money Woody was sitting on if he was talking about getting a place here and keeping his ranch in Virginia. But, I knew I couldn't just let him swoop in and buy a house that I lived in. It would be his and I'd feel like a tenant if I wasn't contributing in some way.

Woody had continued talking, and I was honestly zoning out until he tipped my chin with his thumb and said, "This is important. It would be our home, not my house. You need to help pick it, and you need to be a part in purchasing it."

My face showed my instant confusion. "I can't afford to help purchase much of a house." I warned him.

He smiled and gave me a glimpse of the dimple I loved so much, "You weren't listening to me were you?"

I shook my head no and blushed, realizing I had missed something important. "I'm sorry, I got lost in something you said and I wasn't keeping up."

"I just said that money wasn't an object because my time running missions with Ranger had been very good to me and I'd invested well, but that both our names would go on the deed for the property. This wouldn't be my house where you would live; it would be our house where we lived together." He explained.

"But how is it ours if you buy it?" I wondered.

"I'll put the money down for it," He began, "But it's just a house. Until you are there, and our baby is there it isn't a home and I need a home. I can't have that without you."

Well that was unexpected. He seemed to have leveled most of my complaints in less than half an hour. Suddenly something he said struck me and I blurted out, "Do you still run missions with Ranger?" I pictured myself worried sick while he was in the wind trying to care for a fussy newborn alone.

He quickly answered by saying, "I have done a couple in the last year, but they were both voluntary. My contract expired two years ago. Since then Ranger may ask me, but I can refuse to go at anytime. I have a feeling when he hears about the baby he won't even ask me anymore. None of the other guys with families are tapped for missions so I guess I'd be put in that group now." He said without any of the bitterness my voice had contained when I listed the changes my life would have to undertake. If anything he sounded happy about it. That settled it…men were weird.

"Now is there anything else you think we should discuss before we eat?" He asked, still moving his thumb against my neck.

I shook my head no and he began to move. Realizing he was trying to stand up I grabbed his painted on t-shirt and made a sound of objection. I was comfortable and didn't want my seat to move. He laughed deep in his chest and said, "How about we sit here for a few more minutes and you tell me about the trip with Les. He sent a text to me and Tank saying you got the account and you were absolutely brilliant, but he didn't say what you had done."

I leaned my head against his shoulder and told him about Marina and her store. Then I told him about her interest in Lester and his apparent interest in her. Woody listened and asked a few questions as I gave him the details. It was so easy to talk to him. Sitting in his lap I felt content and I knew this was right. I didn't have time to try and stop the sigh that escaped my throat.

Woody heard it and said, "I liked the sound of that. You almost sounded…content."

And there it was. He knew exactly what my sound meant. I loved that he not only understood what it meant, but that he picked the exact word I had been thinking of. I was going to tell him that but decided words would be useless. I needed to show him. I sat up abruptly put my hands on either side of his face, held his eyes for only a few seconds and then I leaned forward and kissed him. I poured everything I had into that kiss. I hit him with the attraction that I had for him in spades, the passion that I felt when I was near him, the desire that appeared when his thumb stroked my neck and then I ended with the contentment I had just discovered. All things considered it was one hell of kiss.

Apparently Woody got the full message from it because when I pulled back he said only, "Shazaam!"

This, of course, made me laugh and the moment was altered, but not gone. This time Woody shifted me so that he could stand, but he never let go of my hand. He tugged me up and I followed him into the kitchen. He lifted me up on the cabinet and sat me on the edge while he proceeded to boil water for the pasta and offer me a taste of the sauce with a spoon he had just licked. It was hard to think about the taste of the sauce when all I could focus on was the sight of his tongue running along the stainless steel.

I looked down to clear my head and noticed for the first time he wasn't wearing shoes or socks. My head must have stayed down too long because he lifted my chin with his forefinger so that I could see the questioning expression on his face. I blurted out, "You're barefooted."

My exclamation caused him to wiggle his toes and I was struck at his attractive his feet were. They were perfectly shaped with stair stepped toes. He laughed and said, "Yea, I went barefoot all summer as kid so it is sometimes hard to stay in boots all day. When I get back to the apartment they are the first thing to go."

As he talked his hands ran down my pants and he slipped my sneakers off and pulled down my socks too so that my bare feet were now in the air. He smiled and said, "I should have known they would be perfect too. Your feet blend in with the rest of you."

I thought it was a strange compliment, but I couldn't help it, I smiled. What girl doesn't like being told part of her is attractive?

Woody finished preparing dinner and made us each a heaping plate of pasta. We sat at the table and dug in, talking about anything and everything. The food was long gone, and I was secretly rejoicing at the fact that I was able to eat it without getting sick. I knew my tender stomach had just been the stress of the whole Jenkins mess. If it hadn't been for the whole fainting spell, I might still not know about the baby.

This time when I thought about the life growing inside of me I liked the thought. I moved my hand to my stomach and rested it there flat against my body as though I were trying to pass along some measure of comfort to him or her.

The movement wasn't lost on Woody who stopped talking immediately and moved from his chair to kneel in front of me. He eyes locked with mine as he held out a hand and asked, "Can I?"

I nodded, giving him permission to touch my stomach. His hand was large and warm and when it touched me I swear I felt volts run though me and straight down to the Promised Land. I had to blink to keep my eyes from rolling back into my head. I could tell he was talking, but I couldn't understand a word he said. I knew it was Spanish and I wondered why he wasn't speaking in English, but the beauty of the sound of his voice and the comfort of the unknown words washed over me and I finally gave up and shut my eyes.

When he finished talking he put both hands on either side of my stomach and lowered his face to place a kiss just below my belly button. From his position on the floor he looked up at me with such devotion in his eyes. I had never felt so adored and it nearly overwhelmed me. "I know this is a lot for you, but I can't help but feel that everything I've ever wanted has been given to me."

I knew then that I was one lucky woman. For whatever reason this gorgeous man had fallen for me and he was thrilled at the life we had the opportunity to build together. I decided to go with what my heart was saying and make my head shut up for at least one night. I bent down and put my lips right up against his but instead of kissing him I whispered. "With you beside me I think everything I've ever wanted is being given to me too."

He moved that last fraction of an inch and sealed our lips together. My goodness this man could kiss. He was patient and thorough and it was slowly driving me insane. Everything he did, every sound he made, every breath he let out was turning me on and I was quite sure I was going to explode any minute now. Just as I was about to demand he take me to the bedroom his cell phone started ringing.

He grabbed it from his belt and answered it in an annoying tone, "What?" Apparently, he didn't want to be interrupted either.

I could tell right away something was wrong because his thumb dropped away from my neck. He stiffened and then pulled away as he asked, "What's left?" After a brief pause he looked toward me for only a fraction of a second and then looked away like a boy caught staring at a girl in grade school. I knew I was being discussed and I didn't like it. Finally he ended the call with an abrupt, "Understood," and shut his phone.

"What was that about?" I asked, hoping he would admit that whoever was on the phone was discussing something that involved me so that I didn't have to yell at him for keeping things from me.

"That was Tank," He began while putting my hand between both of his. "He said Carl Costanza just called the control room to let us know someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail through the bedroom window of your apartment. It did significant damage to your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. The fire department arrived before it could spread past that. But for right now your apartment is being declared condemned and you can't reenter it. All your things are being deemed lost."

If I wanted a bright side, at least I knew Woody wasn't going to keep things from me. He wasn't trying to sugar coat what happened he was just telling it to me. "There was a note left on the fire escape which Tank said the guys at the PD are examining. They are going to fax a copy of it over to us so we know if it was Jenkins again." He added, giving me all the information that had just been shared with him.

I couldn't help but smile as both of us at the exact same moment put our hands on my stomach. It was like we both felt the need to assure the baby that everything was okay. Maybe Woody was right, maybe I would be a good mother. I already loved the little peanut and even though it seemed kind of soon, I felt like I might love its father too. Now if we could just get rid of the damned stalker I think we could begin a nice life together.

I focused on Woody and saw he was whispering over my stomach again. I put my hand on his head and let his strength wash over me as I came up with a plan. Tomorrow I was going to talk to Tank about my job. I needed money and I needed something to occupy my time. After that I was going to find out what could be done about Jenkins. This had gone on long enough. I didn't know much about being a parent, but I knew I didn't like being threatened and the idea of threatening my baby was making me beyond livid. Jenkins had no idea what he had unleashed but I wasn't going to rest until his threat was eliminated.


	13. The Best Laid Plans

_JE gets all the credit and the money. I get to have the fun!_

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) I am so grateful to have you as a Beta. No one else would have the patience and skill to wrangle my run-ons and turn them into a story._

**Chapter 13 – The Best Laid Plans**

Woody and I walked into the conference room and had to split up to take the only two available seats. I was next to Lester and Woody was beside Zip. We were on opposite sides of the table which meant we could look at each other easily. This was both a blessing and a curse since I could stare at him all day long. But apparently I was so distracted that I didn't hear Tank ask me a question or him calling my name to get my attention.

Les whispered behind his hand hiding his mouth, "He wants you to confirm that you'll be at RangeMan full time from now on which will make keeping you safe easier."

"Right," I said quickly. "Full-time." Zip was grinning from one ear to the other and when my eyes caught his, he mouthed, "I knew it" reminding me of the conversation with him earlier today.

Tank jumped into describing what happened at my apartment and ran through a few photos on the screen to his right. The final picture was of my fire escape. It had what appeared to be a sheet tied up to the railing and the words, "Glad to see you going out. Too bad you can't go home. We'll finish our business soon."

I did a quick survey of the room and noticed eight blank faces barely containing looks of rage and anger. Thank God these men were on my side. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have them come after me with these looks on their faces.

The lights came back up to full power and Tank said, "We need to take Jenkins out. After he is gone, we can deal with the Bertucci family. Ranger feels they will be glad to have him gone. He's a loose cannon and he is a legal liability to them. But if there is trouble after Jenkins is gone then the boss will come back to town to deal with it."

The guys seemed pleased with this announcement. I was unsure if it was because Ranger would come to town if they couldn't handle the situation and they had confidence that he could fix this, or if they were excited about the idea that they had clearance to kill Jenkins. I wasn't happy about one of them having to end another man's life because of me, but I could admit that I would be glad to know he was no longer a threat.

Tank interrupted the hum that had begun to build from murmured voices and said, "So until Jenkins is out of the picture we will need to keep Stephanie secure." He then looked right at me. "You will need to stay in the building unless it is absolutely necessary."

I know I should have said something about my appreciation for his concern and I should have promised to be careful and take my own safety seriously, but all I heard was 'we want to lock you up' and my mind revolted. "I have an appointment in the morning with my doctor and I can't miss it. I also will need to see my parents in the next couple of days. I can't stay locked up in the building all the time right now."

Tank took a deep breath probably wondering what he had done that was so horrible to deserve the responsibility of having to protect me. "We can accommodate any appointments you have if you let us know in advance. You will need a man on you at all times and a team providing back-up. Tomorrow you can have…" He turned to a stack of papers in front of him searching for the schedule.

Before he could find what he was looking for Woody spoke up, "Sir, Stephanie had already spoke to me and Zip about her appointment and we agreed to go with her."

Tank nodded in acknowledgment at the same time that he located his schedule and said, "Good, you can take Hector with you too and that should cover all the bases."

Woody seemed pleased with that announcement. I relaxed assuming if there was anything hinky Woody would have spoken up again.

I tried really hard to pay attention to the rest of the meeting while the guys talked about ideas of how to get Jenkins. But the next thing I was aware of I was floating and when I pried one eye open my face was pressed against a tight black t-shirt. It didn't give me much to work with in identifying the arms so ably carrying me so I shut my eyes. I assumed I'd fallen asleep in the meeting and someone had picked me up to bring me to bed. I was exhausted so I let sleep reclaim me and drifted off before we even got to the apartment.

The next morning when I woke my bladder was screaming so I jumped up and dashed to the bathroom only to realize that jumping up first thing in the morning was a horrible idea. I had just finished answering one call of nature when my stomach began to insist the spaghetti I ate last night was a very bad idea. Flushing the toilet I leaned back against the wall for minute hoping to gain some strength to get back up and rinse out my mouth.

Lester came barreling in and knelt beside me on the floor. "Beautiful," He said with his voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

I could have pointed out the obvious that in fact I was not okay, but I decided to not let my bitchy side out of the bag yet because of the worry written all over his face. I nodded then explained, "I think I got up too fast and the spaghetti Woody made last night was probably a bad idea too. For some reason tomato sauce and this pregnancy aren't getting along."

His jaw flexed and I wondered what had upset Lester. He put hand out offering to help me up. Accepting his assistance I stood up and then gasped at the sight I made in the mirror. I had never taken my hair down yesterday, but most of the bun had come undone during the night and now I had a knotted mess with strange sprigs of curls hanging out everywhere. Lovely.

Understanding that Lester wasn't leaving my side until I dismissed him I promised that I was fine now, and that after a shower I would be my old self again. He nodded and shut the door behind himself as he walked out.

I was right, the shower did make me feel like a new woman. With my hair clean I was able to control it as much as I ever could and I decided to leave it down today. There appeared to be a few new marks on my neck so it was probably a good idea to try and cover those up.

By the time I got upstairs I felt like I'd been awake for hours. I thought for sure that my watch was lying to me when it showed the time was only nine o'clock. But when I turned on my computer it said the same thing so I knew I had about forty minutes to kill before it would be time to leave for my doctor's appointment. About five minutes into my first search I suddenly felt that I was in a shadow. I looked up and saw Tank standing over me with his arms crossed and his face unreadable. I didn't think he was upset with me, but I thought I'd ask just in case.

"Is everything okay there big guy?" I asked tentatively.

He tilted his head marginally towards his office and then began to walk away. Assuming that movement was an invitation for me to follow him I got up and went into his corner office startling slightly when he shut the door before sitting down.

"I had a visit from our company medic this morning. I was concerned about the message you left asking about coming to work full time. You didn't sound too happy about it and since I thought you'd been acting strange lately, even allowing for the stress of the stalker, I wanted to talk to Brown to be sure you were fit for full-time duty. He told me he had recently run some blood work on you and if I needed specifics I would need to ask you about the results, but he did say you could handle full-time duty as long as it wasn't too stressful or involved chasing skips." Having recounted his whole talk with Bobby he finally asked, "Is there something I should know?"

This was a quandary. I didn't want to tell anyone until after I had been the doctor, but the appointment was only half an hour away. I didn't want to lie to Tank so I decided to just tell him and see how he reacted. I looked down slightly, unsure of what he would think as I said, "I'm pregnant."

I paused but he didn't say anything. I finally got tired of waiting and gathered up my courage to look at my boss in the face. His blank face was fully in place. "Who?" He asked when our eyes met. In the second it took me to realize he expected an answer he added "When?"

"Tank, there are certain things I don't want to get out to the guys," I began. The expression on Tank's face told me he wasn't planning on telling anyone, but he did expect me to tell him. I took a deep breath and just jumped in. "The night we picked up Jenkins I got drunk and when one of the guys took me home we slept together and since I forgot to take my pill after I passed out, I got pregnant from the one time."

This time when Tank spoke I recognized the look on his face. He was furious. I had assumed everyone knew what happened that night, especially after Lester called Woody on it in the gym but apparently Tank wasn't in on the gossip express because he was still waiting on an answer.

Finally his expression changed as though he had a thought. "Woody?" He asked, apparently putting all the clues together.

I nodded and then realized Tank seemed to be getting even madder. "You mean one of my men let you get completely smashed and then took advantage of that by having sex with you and now you are pregnant and he's just out there walking around free and clear?" Tank's voice was getting louder and I was honestly a little concerned about what he might do next.

I needed to say something and it needed to be good. "The truth is Woody was just as drunk, except he was able to remember our night together and as of yet all I've got are some random images. But before you get yourself into a state, Woody and I have talked. We are going to try a relationship and see how it works. To be honest, he's thrilled about the baby and he's been the one keeping me sane about the changes that are happening in my life. I'm happy with him and I think we can be happy together if we're given the chance."

Tank lifted his hand up and I stopped talking immediately. It didn't take Special Forces training to understand that non-verbal command. "You're happy?" He asked.

I nodded that I was.

"He's trying to take care of you?" He continued.

Again I did my imitation of a bobble head doll.

"Has anyone called him out for getting you pregnant?" He pushed.

I cringed a little realizing this one would take words to answer. "Les got a hold of him that day in the gym when I called you. They went a few rounds on the mats because of Woody not letting me know right away that he was the guy that took me home. But when Les found out I was pregnant he was the one that told me Woody loved me and had for a couple of years. He said he almost felt bad about hitting him."

Tank nodded that he had heard everything I said. Finally he broke the silence by saying, "You can work full-time effective immediately. You can still do searches three days a week, but there are some other tasks I'd like you to learn such as the sales side of the business. After your success yesterday and listening to Lester, I think you could be a huge asset to this office in that capacity. I'll have you start going out to meet the prospective clients when the guys go out and then you can act as a customer service liaison for some of the others that need a little extra personal attention. If you're willing you can start learning about the sales and business aspects on Monday."

It was Friday now, so it didn't seem like waiting the weekend was that big of a deal. "Of course, I think I'd like that."

"Now, this appointment at 10:00, who is it with?" He asked prying a little.

"It's my first appoint with the OB to be sure everything is okay with the baby." I confessed.

"Woody going with you?" He asked despite my having told him yesterday.

"Along with Zip and now Hector," I reminded him.

Tank stood up in one swift motion and began walking to the cubicles. I followed him out and sat down at my desk assuming the conversation was over since he walked away. The next thing I knew I heard Tank's deep voice booming through the office calling out "Woodrow!" Then I heard the sound of fist hitting flesh and a loud commotion of something or someone hitting the floor by way of a desk or table top.

Tank's footsteps could be heard walking back to his office and calling out over his shoulder, "Brown, go clean up Woody. He needs to be on his feet in ten minutes to take Steph to her doctor's appointment." With that command he retreated into his office and slammed the door.

I couldn't believe it. Tank had attacked Woody because I was pregnant. I didn't know if I should go yell at Tank first or go check on Woody. I was pissed so I when I saw Bobby run by with his black medic kit I knew Woody was in good hands and I stormed into Tank's office allowing the door to crash against the wall when I flung it open.

I knew my voice was unnecessarily loud when I yelled, "What in the hell was that?"

Tank shook his head and said, "I did what needed to be done. I don't care if he's writing you poetry and bringing you flowers. He hurt you, and took advantage of you. The fact that he's stepping up to do the right thing now doesn't change what he did then."

"Of course it does," I said with my arms flapping all around. "It changes everything. He isn't stepping up because I'm going to have his baby or because he feel's obligated to do so. He's asking me to open up to him so that we can have a real relationship and when the time comes for the baby to be born it will have two parents who love him or her and each other. You had no right to interfere."

He stood up behind his desk and asserted, "Yes I did, Little Girl. Somebody needed to stand up for you. I'm not saying the two of you can't be happy; knowing Woody you probably will be. But there are prices to pay for certain actions. There was an unspoken rule around here that everyone should protect you at all costs and he directly disregarded that command by sleeping with you without the right protection. I had to call him on that failure to obey."

Well when he put it like that, he was only angry about having an order broken, not the fact that we were going to have a baby. "Couldn't you have explained that before you knocked him out?"

"Trust me, he knows exactly why I did it. When he comes to, there won't be a doubt in his mind." Tank assured me.

I wasn't so sure. I stood there for a minute and realized I had to put a stop to this. "Come with me," I told Tank and was slightly surprised when he followed me out. I went over to the control room and asked for the intercom microphone. Cal handed it over and turned on the system. "Can I have your attention, please?" I asked pleased to hear the noise on the floor stopped immediately.

"I want to confirm that Woody and I have been seeing each other. As a result of the time we've spent together we have gotten some good news which has thrilled us both. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from attacking, beating, hitting or otherwise hurting the father of my baby. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt for you to be happy for us too." I said feeling my temper fade with every word and suddenly realizing I had just told our big secret to the entire office. So much for not flaunting our relationship in front of the guys.

I handed the mic back to Cal and was surprised when he sat it down and stood up to hug me. "Congratulations Bomber," He whispered in my ear. "I can't wait to have a little version of you around here."

I blushed slightly at his tender words but managed to thank him before walking away. I realized we had five minutes before it was time to leave for my doctor's appointment so I tried to make my way to Woody but on the way Zero caught my hand and said, "I can't wait to see a baby version of you. It will be beautiful."

Next Hal was standing there grinning from ear to ear. "I can't wait to meet your baby Bomber. You're going to be a great mom."

Ram was next up and grabbed me around the waist and said, "This is the best news I've heard in months. I can't wait to have a RangeMan baby around the office."

By the time I got to Woody on the floor I felt like every man in the office had touched me and had something supportive to say. I was numb from all the attention. Les and Bobby had said everyone here would be happy and I hadn't believed them but apparently they were right. The guys were happy.

Woody was sitting up against the wall with an ice pack on his jaw but it didn't hide the smile he had on his face. Apparently he was conscious in time to hear my announcement. I walked up to him tentatively, curious if he wished I'd kept my mouth shut. The look on his face told me it was alright, but I needed to hear it from him to believe it.

I knelt down right beside him and asked, "Are you mad that I spilled the beans?"

He shook his head no and replied, "Darlin', I've never had someone stand up for me like that before. I couldn't be happier."

I saw the sparkle in his eyes and knew he was telling me the truth. I moved closer to him and was glad to feel his hand reach out and go around my waist drawing me closer still. Forgetting the crowd that had gathered behind us, I straddled his legs stretched out in front of him on the floor.

I gently pulled the ice pack away from his jaw and grimaced at the bruise quickly forming where Tank's massive fist made contact. Seeing my face Woody pulled me closer still and said, "I know why he did it. Don't be mad. I broke the number one rule of keeping you safe no matter what. And even though I'm thrilled about how everything is turning out, I know that I should have protected you better. I broke an order and that can't go unpunished."

I pushed back a little to see his face, letting my fingertips trace the bruise's edge. Our eyes locked as my hand continued to run along his strong jaw line. Everyone around us ceased to exist and I moved closer to him until we were mere inches from each other. I stopped and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth wondering if he wanted me to kiss him.

Before I could make a decision, Woody moved forward and pressed his lips to mine. I thought I was doing a good job of not melting from the feel of his lips on mine, but the second his thumb circled the back of neck I moaned and practically threw myself at him. The sensation of our tongues touching and the sound of our lips when we briefly parted made me want to be even closer to him. I slowly shifted my hips pressing myself against the zipper of his cargos and shivering when he growled softly deep in his throat.

It wasn't until Lester interrupted our moment by saying, "Okay everybody the show's finished," That I remembered we were still in the office. Over the complaints from the guys he added, "Well, it may not be over, but your access to it is."

I pulled away immediately when the guys began to boo at the interruption to their view and I hid my face in Woody's neck. I could feel his chest shaking slightly and knew he was enjoying this a lot more than I was.

"We should get going if we are going to make it to your appointment in time." He said, shifting slightly to help motivate me into getting up.

Reluctantly I stood and accepted his hand when he held it out to me. We walked fingers entwined down to the garage and met Hector and Zip by the Explorer Woody usually drove. "That was some speech, Steph." Zip said with a wink. "I knew there was something going on, but this is bigger than I guessed." When he said the word bigger he used his hands to mime a huge belly over his own as though he were pregnant. I refused to even smile at his attempt at humor. Fortunately Hector saved me the trouble and smacked him on the back of his head. Now I was free to grin.

We climbed in the back and let Zip drive with Hector ridding shotgun. "So how will this work?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot of the doctor's office.

"I'll go in with you; Zip will stay in the car and watch the perimeter." Woody explained before adding, "And Hector will do what he does best."

Hector had turned around to see me and was smiling at the mention of his name. "Will I be able to see you?" I asked him.

"I hope not," He said with the smile dropping off his face.

Woody explained, "Hector will be hidden but watching us from a distance. He will only show up if something goes wrong to protect us while I figure out how to get us out of there."

I was confused about the last part. Why was it Woody's job to get us out? Why wouldn't Hector do it?

Seeing my confusion he said, "Everybody has a strong suit," and shrugged while getting out of the SUV at the same time Hector did and coming around the back to my side.

I was about to open my door but Zip said, "No, wait for him to look first. He'll open it for you once he's sure it's safe." Heeding his advice I waited and was happy when Woody opened the door and put his hand in for me to take. Hector walked behind me and Woody led me keeping his body just in front. Hector rode with us to second floor in the elevator but he didn't step out when we did. When I turned back I didn't see him at all even though the doors were still open.

"I take it Hector's job involves him vanishing like smoke," I commented.

"Something like that," Woody replied cryptically. I made a mental note to ask him what that meant later.

When we walked in the office I was glad to see the open friendly looking layout of the waiting room. It didn't have the harsh look of typical doctor's offices. I went up to the registration window and was pleased to see Bobby had preregistered me so that I only had a single survey to complete on my family medical history and I was able to sit beside Woody on one of the rose colored loveseats.

Woody had his right ankle crossed on his left knee looking casual and comfortable but I could see his eyes taking in every movement that occurred in the room. When we heard the nurse call my name I was glad to be going back to a patient room so that Woody could relax from the constant effort of cataloguing threats.

I followed the woman with beautiful brown skin and a perfectly fitted set of scrubs and complied with the nurse's request to step up on the scale only after Woody turned around and faced away from the numbers. She wrote down the number and smiled at me as though she thought Woody humoring me was funny. I went in the ladies room to give her a urine sample after it was cleared by my own personal man in black as safe for entry. This time when I came out of the bathroom there was a big grin on her face. But the straw that made her laugh out loud was when she pulled the curtain around to block the bed from the door and Woody spun around from the sudden noise with his hand at his waist ready to draw his gun if the object making the noise had turned out to be a threat.

I looked at her and wondered if the stress of her job had gotten to her until she stuck her hand out and said, "Stephanie, I'm Gina. Bobby told me to be expecting you today and to be sure you were well looked after, but I see you've got your own security force seeing to that already." I laughed at her comment, knowing she had been dating Bobby for over a year now so she fully understood having an overly cautious bodyguard for a boyfriend.

She gave me a little gown and instructed me to put it on with the slit in the front and the doctor would be in to see me shortly. Woody excused himself and stood on the other side of the curtain to give me some privacy. I appreciated his consideration. I know it seemed silly, if I was having his baby obviously he'd already seen me naked, but since we hadn't been able to sleep together since then I wanted the next time he saw me without clothes to be special.

I climbed up on the paper covered table and covered myself with the thin blanket before telling Woody he could come back around. He stood at the edge of the curtain and looked at me until I began to get self conscious. Seeing the change in my posture he stepped to my side in an instant. "You're more beautiful every day," He told me pressing his forehead against mine and pulling us closer together. We stayed that way in perfect companionable silence until the doctor walked in.

"Ms. Plum?" He asked holding my chart and looking down.

"That's me," I said suddenly nervous. Woody picked up my hand and held it in his own rubbing his thumb in the same small circles he usually reserved for my neck. It had the same calming effect on me. The doctor ran through a few basic questions and then told me it looked like my due date would be at the end of May. "Memorial Day baby," I said looking up at Woody whose face had the most wonderful expression of joy on it.

"Well, let's get the unpleasant part over with," He said while pulling out the modern devices of torture only used by medical personal for gynecological exams.

I rolled my eyes but did as he asked and scooted to the end of the table and put my heels in the cups at the end of the metal stirrups. Woody looked markedly uncomfortable, but didn't release my hand. Instead as the doctor began his exam Woody turned his back to the medical procedure in order to give my face his full attention. He used his left hand to trace designs on my face lightly and he whispered softly to me in Spanish, words my ears did not understand, but my heart could.

When he was finished the doctor told me everything looked good and I could come back in a month but handed me a stack of papers to read and assured me they had a twenty-four hour hotline I could call if I had any concerns or questions along the way.

Just before his hand opened the door he turned back and looked at Woody saying something in Spanish. When he finished Woody smiled and looked at me before saying simply "Si." I understood the yes, but the doctor's words were completely lost on me. At some point I really needed to learn Spanish.

While I was considering how to learn a foreign language in a matter of days Woody was grabbing my clothes for me and he put my socks on while I was lost in my thoughts. He handed me my bra and panties and when I objected to him watching me take off the gown he turned around but refused to walk behind the curtain again. I asked for my shirt and he spun around with it in his hands, but the moment he saw me sitting on the table in nothing but my black bra and panties his eyes opened wide and he mouth dropped open. "Good Lord, Darlin'," He said handing me my shirt.

I could tell that seeing me wearing so little had an instant effect on him and I decided to test out this new found power by slipping my arms in the sleeves of my shirt, but not buttoning it up before asking, "Is something wrong?"

His lips crashed on mine before I had a chance to brace myself and I began to fall backward only to be caught by his arms and pressed against his chest. He continued to kiss me, and soon began lavishing attention on my neck. I assume we had been kissing for quite a while as the door to the room opened and a nurse walked in talking to someone else about how this room needed to be cleaned up. Seeing us there clinging to each other she offered a hurried apology and told us to take our time pulling ourselves back together and shut the door quickly.

We both cracked up from the interruption, feeling like a couple of teenagers caught making out in the gym by the coach. His eyes were still dark, but he began to button my shirt for me and said, "We'll finish this when we get back to the apartment."

I wanted to say something playful or ask him to promise that we would pick it back up where we left off, but my throat was dry and I couldn't get my voice to work so I had to settle for nodding instead. By the time I got my head straight enough to think clearly, Woody was holding my jeans out for me and I put them on before slipping my feet into my sneakers and tying them up.

Woody was watching me carefully making me ask if everything was okay. He said simply, "I'll bet you would be drop dead sexy in a pair of boots."

"I have boots," I told him, thinking of the black ones with four inch stiletto heels that I had worn a few times on very successful distractions.

He must have understood what I meant because he corrected me. "No, not that kind. I mean a pair of cowboy boots. I can see you sitting on a horse with your thighs rubbing on the leather of a saddle ridding on the hills around my ranch."

Geez, when he put it like that I felt like my knees were getting weak just thinking about it. "Come on," He said lacing my fingers between his own. "Let's get back so we can finish what we started here."

Understanding him completely, I led the way only stopping long enough to book my appointment in a month and then dashing to the door leading to the waiting room. Just before I opened it Woody pulled me back.

I remembered Zip advising me to let Woody clear the area before I got out of the Explorer so I assumed this was like that and I waited. Except this time, Woody wasn't moving. "I thought we were going to celebrate," I prompted him hoping he would explain why he wasn't moving.

"We can't," He replied softly.

"Why not?" I asked beginning to feel like we would never have sex without some sort of interruption.

"Because Hector is standing in the waiting room just beside the exit to the hall." He pointed through the receptionist's window so that I could see our quiet friend standing straight as an arrow just beside the door. All the women currently waiting on their appointments were sitting across the room from him clearly not wanting to get too close to the imposing figure with the gang tattoos showing on his face.

"What does that mean?" I asked, beginning to feel a sense of doom in my stomach prompting me to cover it with my hand.

Woody lifted his arm to put it around me in a gesture that was both protective and reassuring at the same time.

He grabbed his phone from his belt and turned it back on. The receptionist saw him using a cell phone and promptly told him he would have to either step outside or turn it back off because cellular devices were not allowed to be on in the doctor's office.

Woody didn't even acknowledge her. Instead he began typing furiously on the tiny keyboard on his phone, amazing me that his calloused hands could do such a delicate task so efficiently. It made me wonder what other delicate tasks his fingers could do. Unfortunately the doctor's reception area wasn't the proper place for those kinds of thoughts so I tried to push them from my mind.

When he was done he clipped his phone back on his belt and addressed the nurse closest to us. "Is there an employee entrance or a back way out other than through the waiting room into the main hall?"

Gina was standing nearby and heard his question and responded, "There is a service elevator that would take you to the door at the back of the building that opens directly to the street,"

"Show us," Woody commanded as we followed her through the exam rooms past the doctor's offices and to a back corner of their space to a small elevator in the back. "This is perfect." He replied when the doors opened.

He then asked Gina if she could help him with another favor and she readily agreed. Woody had Gina go to the waiting room and get Hector to bring him to us in the back. Then he wanted her to call Bobby and ask him to come pick us up at the street where the elevator would release us.

She stood in front of us, looked around to be sure no one was watching and then pulled out her own cell phone to call Bobby in front of us. She relayed the message perfectly and then ended the call blushing. I decided to ask Bobby about that later. Right now she just wanted to tell us that Bobby would call her phone when he pulled up beside the building and then we'd know it was safe to go down.

She promised to come tell us when he was in position. As soon as she left Woody asked Hector what was going on. "Two men in the lobby, Bertucci's" He answered in English so that I could understand. I gripped Woody's hand tighter at that news. I just wanted to have a simple doctor's appointment and get the news that everything with my pregnancy was progressing normally. Instead I have a stalker who has two mob goons waiting on me in the lobby of my doctor's office and I'm stuck hiding in the back before I have to get in a small rickety looking service elevator to hopefully be able to sneak out undetected.

"It okay," Hector assured me. "We watch you."

It suddenly struck me that even though Zip was Woody's partner at RangeMan the few times I'd left with Woody, Tank had assigned Hector to go along too. And when I thought back further than this, the last time I had a crazy after me anytime Woody was on Stephanie duty, Hector was always with him. I wanted to understand that better, assuming it had something to do with Woody's strange remark in the parking lot before we came in about everybody having a strong suit.

It seemed like forever, but Gina finally came back around the corner and said, "Okay, Bobby said he is downstairs with the engine running and Les is at the elevator door."

I thanked her for all her help and she said, "No worries, just remember all this stress isn't good for you or the baby. You need to rest this afternoon so that your blood pressure doesn't go through the roof."

Of course Woody heard that too. So much for our plans of picking up where we left off.


	14. Take it Up Another Notch

_None of the characters are mine. JE created them and deserves all the credit. _

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank for your continued work on this story as the Beta. Every single chapter has been bettered by your thoughtful suggestions and encouragement._

**Chapter 14 – Take it up Another Notch**

The ride back to Haywood was silent. I was in the backseat between Lester and Woody. Bobby was breaking just about every traffic law known to man to get us back to the safety of the building in record time.

When we screeched to a halt in a parking space of the garage the guys enveloped me with their bodies and walked as a protective bubble around me to the elevator. I was trying really hard to stay quiet, not wanting to break their Zen-like zones. But if somebody didn't say something soon I was going to explode.

The elevator stopped at four and Woody, Les and I stepped out. I was confused now having assumed we would go straight up to five to make a report to Tank and see what the plans were on taking Jenkins out.

Les and Woody exchanged nervous glances which made me blurt out, "Just say it already!"

Woody began, "Gina said when we got back you should rest so that the stress of all this didn't get to be too much for you or the baby."

If my blood pressure wasn't too high already that would have put it over the edge. "You want me to nap while you go upstairs and work out a plan to keep me safe?"

Lester jumped in this time, "Beautiful, we want you to rest so that you stay healthy enough to help out in the planning of what we should do next when it gets to that part. Right now we are all going to go upstairs and fill out paperwork, and then we will make a verbal report as a group to Tank. By that point it will be pushing 1:00 and Tank might want to call the full team together to discuss our next move. We all assumed you would be there for that."

His explanation did help a little. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I wasn't tired and I resented being shut out down here when they were all upstairs doing something because of me.

This time Woody stepped up to the door. "If you aren't tired you could try hanging out at my place? You know where the movies are from the other night, you could watch one, or help yourself to some leftover spaghetti." I went green as soon as he mentioned the meal.

Les smacked him in the chest and said, "Man, don't you know anything. She can't eat heavy sauce right now. It makes her really sick."

Woody got defensive and turned to face Les, "She ate it the other night and loved it. There were no problems." He took a small step forward as though challenging Lester to try and correct him again when it came to me.

Lester couldn't let it pass and he moved closer too and said, "No problems for you, but this morning she was up heaving first thing because of the lead weight it turned into in her stomach. She's got to eat lighter food, especially at night until she gets through the morning sickness phase. If you are going to take care of her, then you need to read up on this shit."

This time Woody took the step forward making them less than a foot apart. "And what are you, a walking pregnancy dictionary?"

I knew I needed to do something so I stepped in-between them as best I could for the small amount of space that remained and yelled, "Stop it!" That got their attention focused on me and off of each other. "I get it, you both want to take care of me. This is all new for us all so I'm going to make myself comfortable on Woody's leather couch and I'm going to read all the stuff I got at my appointment this morning. If I hear that you two have started fighting again I'm going to be very upset and then we can see what these famous pregnancy hormones everybody complains about can do to help me straighten you guys out."

They both involuntarily stepped back. That's right, I scared the two bad asses who were about to come to blows. I may be small, but damn skippy, I'm spunky!

Les kissed my forehead and said, "I'm sorry Beautiful. But when you couldn't handle Pino's I called my sister and asked about morning sickness. She gave me some pointers so that I could help you. I just hate to see you sick and I needed somebody to get mad at."

I touched his cheek and then said, "I know you have things to do upstairs, but you have an appointment at Chic Fashions so you better get the proposal and get over there. I think you should call on your way over and see if she'd like to discuss the plans over lunch. And if she accepts take her out but don't once mention going out again, just talk to her. Find out why she went into fashion design, let her talk." I advised and was pleased to see him listening to every word with no smart ass comments in return. He ran to the stairs when I finished talking like a man with a mission.

Woody was smiling at me when I turned back to look at him. "You're trying to hook him up with the owner aren't you?" I nodded thinking there was no point in denying it.

Woody took my hand again and walked me down the hall to his unit. He started talking while he unlocked the door. "You know last night when you fell asleep I didn't know where to take you. I wanted to bring you to my bed in the worst way, but we hadn't talked about it and I refused to take advantage of you again. But I hope you know that I wish you were here. I'd love to come home and see you asleep on my pillow so that I could climb in bed with you and have the pleasure of waking up beside you."

Well that answered the question of how I got from the meeting to Lester's apartment last night. I looked at my hand and saw the stack of brochures and information sheets and thought stretching out on a big bed would be nice while I was reading. "Do you mind if I stretch out there now to read?"

He practically beamed as he picked me up bridal style and carried me into the bedroom. I hadn't been in his room yet and I couldn't help but look around when he turned the light on with his elbow. There were pictures on his dresser which I knew I would go through when he went back upstairs. On his bed was a forest green printed comforter and a big pile of pillows. Again the home accents caught me off guard. Woody laughed at my expression and said, "Liddy got the big pillows and Annie gave me the round ones. I was pissed about it at first, but they are handy when I want to read or watch TV in bed." He walked over and placed me gently in the center of the bed then slid my shoes off and ran his hands up my calves to the bottom of my thighs. I leaned into the pillows which were intoxicatingly soft and comfortable and let a moan out at the sensation of his hands on me.

I had noticed Woody before; I mean I'd have to be blind not to notice his striking body and handsome face. I had also always been attracted to his gentle spirit and his gentlemanly manners. He was quiet but not in a way that was shy, he just seemed to be observing everything around him. And he was typically quick to smile or laugh when something was funny, but he never seemed to laugh at me. All of that would have been enough to get me to accept a date if he had ever asked. But now that we had spent a night together and we were getting to know each other much better I couldn't imagine ever thinking of accepting a date from anyone else ever again.

When I managed to force myself into opening my eyes again Woody was still stroking my legs with just enough pressure to keep it from tickling, but not enough to count as a massage. His eyes were dark again like they had been at the doctor's office and all I could think about was getting him to kiss me again like he had there.

Woody caught me staring at him and his hands stopped moving. I missed the contact but I was glad to see he seemed to be affected too. Thankfully he began to move, crawling up the bed between my legs keeping his body off of mine with his knees and hands. Although I appreciated that he didn't want to hurt me my skin was screaming for the contact. I reached out with both of my hands and hit his arms at the elbows making them bend and lowering his body suddenly closer to mine. I couldn't help but smile that my plan worked and I put my arms around his shoulders hoping he would take the hint and not try to get back up.

"All you had to do was ask," He said in a slightly gravely voice. "Anything you ever want, all you have to do is ask."

I was convinced I was only three or four sentences away from an orgasm with his chest pressed between my legs and the rumble I felt there with every word he spoke. I decided to see if my theory was right by whispering, "Anything I want?"

"Anything," He affirmed before moving further up my body while maintaining the contact to kiss me. Hot damn, this is what I wanted. My legs drew up, bending at the knees moving my hips to increase the amount of contact there. He moved his hand again putting his thumb at the base of my neck and I realized that if he just kept that up he wouldn't even need to talk in order to push me over the edge.

He moved his free hand down my arm to my hip and then went up the side of my body. On the trip back down he started at my collarbone and went at a snails pace until his hand moved over my breast. I couldn't control it, my hips lifted off the bed and pressed into him, it allowed me to feel the impressive hardness between us. I broke the kiss to moan and even by my standards it sounded much sultrier than my usual noises. Woody responded immediately by massaging the breast he had touched and more noises escaped from my throat.

My hands were clawing at his back pulling him toward me as though it were possible for us to push through our clothes and connect. Woody was just beginning to place some moist hot kisses down the center of my neck when his phone began to ring. He ignored it and continued working on my neck. His phone made another sound which I assumed meant someone had left him message. I ran my fingers into his hair and grabbed a handful, not to control what he was doing, but to try and be a part of it. I was shamelessly moving my hips, grinding myself against the hardness in his pants and loving the feel of it when his phone began to ring again. Once more we ignored the noise and continued to move as one.

Finally, just as Woody moved his hand from my breast to the buttons on my shirt there was a loud pounding on his door. This time Woody stopped and shook his head in frustration. He lifted some of his weight from me but didn't move away immediately. "The next time we do this, I'm giving you a gun and you can shoot whoever dares to knock on the door."

I made an unintelligible sound that I hoped he understood meant I was very unhappy about the interruption and would gladly shoot whoever was on the other side of the door. He gave me one more lingering kiss that was devoid of the urgent passion we had just shared, but it promised all the good things to come and I reluctantly let my arms fall to the side in defeat. I knew he had switched gears and there was no point in trying to keep him in bed with me no matter much I wanted to.

"Go on," I told him. "I'll be right here when you come back down."

He stood up and adjusted his clothes to hide the evidence of what we had been trying to do. "Make yourself at home; there is plenty of other food in the fridge besides leftovers. You need to have some lunch soon," He said completing the transformation from sex crazed boyfriend to bad ass tough guy.

"I'll be fine, go on so you can come back sooner." I told him and he winked at me before turning around and walking out.

I laid on the bed for a few minutes trying to get my own hormones under control. I don't know how we were going to work it out, but if we weren't able to finish what we just started soon I was going to combust. I was sure of it.

Feeling like I needed to do something to take my mind of the unsatisfied feeling, I sat up a little more against the pillows and opened the first brochure to begin reading. I worked my way through all the material from the doctor, excited about some of it, and horrified by other bits. But overall, I was overwhelmed. I knew I needed to watch what I ate, and the information on managing morning sickness was very helpful. At least there were some things I could try. But the single page on pain management techniques for labor was enough to make me want to curl up in a ball and refuse to move. The thought of having to get the baby out at some point was more than what I could handle right now. There was such a thing as too much information and we had definitely hit that point.

I put all the materials in a stack and moved them over to a nightstand returning to the bed in my thinking position. My stomach was beginning to roll again and while I didn't think I was going to get sick, I definitely didn't want to eat anything either. I rolled on my side and felt like it lessened the discomfort a little so I moved the pillows to get comfortable and decided to shut my eyes for just a few minutes until the feeling passed.

The next thing I knew the room was slightly darker and there was a warm hard body pressed up against my back with his arm laid over me rubbing slow circles on my stomach. I didn't want to move. Waking up with Woody was a wonderful experience and I didn't want to break the spell of this perfect moment.

He must have noticed the change in my breathing because he asked, "Did you have a good nap?"

"Uhh, Hmm," I replied without opening my mouth.

"Did you get any lunch?" He asked pushing my hair out of the way so that he could kiss my neck softly."

I shivered from the light touches of his lips on my neck and said, "Not yet."

He stopped what he was doing instantly alerting me that I had said the wrong thing. He sat up and said, "I'm going to get you something to eat. What do you feel like eating?"

I made a noise of complaint but didn't disagree with him. I still felt nauseous, but I knew I needed to at least try to eat so I sat up all at once forgetting what I had just read about getting up slowly and when I found my balance enough to stand up straight I had to run straight for the bathroom. Woody was hot on my heels not sure what was going on. As I flushed the toilet I rested my forehead against my arm just to gather up some strength to stand up and make it over to the sink.

Woody began to rub my back in up and down strokes never moving far enough away from my spine to tickle. "I'm so sorry Steph. I had no idea how hard this was for you." His voice was so tender and so filled with pain.

I found what I needed to stand up and made my way to the sink to wash my hands and rinse out my mouth. Woody kissed my hair in the back and said, "I'll be right outside," and left me a moment of privacy to pull myself together.

I could hear his voice but I didn't try to listen to figure out who he was talking to. When I stepped out of the bathroom I went to the living room and plopped down on the sofa. Woody was pacing, talking on the phone occasionally running his hand over his hair messing it up, but only making himself sexier with every pass of his hand. It was so unfair that as he became more disheveled he got better looking. As I got messier, I turned into a joke.

Finally, I quit drooling over him and listened in to his side of the conversation. From what I could pick up he was talking to someone who knew a lot about pregnancy and he was asking for advice on helping me manage the morning sickness which in my case was apparently all day sickness. That only seemed fitting; I was never much a morning person anyway.

When it sounded like the conversation was winding down I was surprised to hear him say, "No you can't meet her yet. I don't want you three scaring her off." There was a pause before he said, "Yea, yea, I love you too Liddy," And then he hung up.

He was talking to his oldest sister about me? I didn't know if I should be shocked or scared about that. I settled on being touched that he was worried enough about me to try and find a way to make it better even if it meant confessing what happened to his family. In that light, his phone call was possibly one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for me.

He tossed his phone on the coffee table in front of me and knelt beside the couch. "I called my oldest sister. She is a bit of a know it all, but in this case it fits because she's a midwife in Texas. She had some advice if you're interested in hearing it."

I loved that he wasn't just pushing the advice on me. He was giving me a choice. Woody always seemed to be giving me choices. I nodded and he explained about eating more often, but smaller amounts. Never getting completely full, but never allowing myself to get hungry. She suggested I try to get up gradually and keep some mint tea and ginger ale around to sip on all the time. As long as eating was a struggle I needed to drink twice as much to keep the baby healthy. He then said it would most likely pass around week twelve or thirteen which was a comfort of sorts. I mean I was in week five already so I only had seven or eight weeks of this to go.

She also said protein would help with my energy so he suggested a sandwich for lunch with some turkey he had in the fridge. I let him fix it for me and laughed when he asked if I wanted a pickle to go with it. I was never much of a pickle eater, but I let him put it on the side anyway enjoying the joke of the clichéd pregnant woman's craving.

When he put the plate in front of me I was overwhelmed with the feeling of not being hungry. Knowing I needed to at least try something I decided to be a bit of a smarty and picked up the pickle spear first and took a sharp bite making Woody laugh at my attempt to be funny. Of course it back fired on me because I realized I like the way the pickle was crunchy and slightly tart without being overwhelmingly so. It was cold and had just enough flavor to pucker my cheeks without feeling like I was overwhelmed by it. I couldn't believe it when I licked my fingers and realized I'd eaten the whole thing. Woody was still watching me with a smile on his face when I asked, "Is there any chance there is another pickle in the kitchen?"

He told me he'd get me another if I would take at least four bites of my sandwich. I felt like a child being bribed by dessert, but I really wanted it so I went along with his request, taking five bites just to spite him and then smiled when he gave me my reward. When I was finished with the second slice of dill flavored heaven I didn't want to push it by eating anything else so I asked how the meeting went upstairs.

He let out a long breathe and pushed my feet off the sofa to sit down and then pulled my feet back so that they were in his lap. He rubbed the foot closest to him, not exactly as a massage more as a reassuring gesture that he just wanted to touch me in some way.

"We don't have any real good leads about where Jenkins is. We've got some loose surveillance on his usual hangouts with instructions for the guys to move in if they spot him at any time. The biggest concern is that this morning we were tailed by two of Bertucci's men which means they aren't just letting Jenkins do this on his own, they are actively helping him." He summed up.

I didn't like the sound of that. I had a feeling the guys were going to be pushing for house arrest until at least Jenkins had been eliminated. Still, if my jail cell came with Woody rubbing my feet it might not be all bad.

I remembered the questions I wanted to ask from the doctor's office and since he seemed to be in a talking mood I wanted to take advantage of that. "What did you mean this morning when you said everyone had their strong suits?"

He did a double take at the unexpected nature of the question and I was touched at how unguarded he was being with me. The guys were all masters at controlling their emotions, but he let me see that he was surprised by my question. He wasn't trying to hide with me and I loved that he was being so open. Of course I knew that it also meant I now needed to be this open with him too and I hoped I would be able to when the time came.

"You don't miss a thing do you?" He asked and leaned closer to me to push some hair away from my face. "Everybody has skills that they are naturally better at. Except, of course, for Ranger who is better at pretty much everything. Still, when he's assembling a team he picks the people who specialize in the mission at hand. When he taps me to go with him it is usually because he thinks there is a possibility that the mission is compromised in some way and needs to be sure that if it all goes to hell he can find a way to get out. My specialty would be escapes. When there is pressure and it becomes obvious that a retreat needs to be made I always seem to come up with an alternate way of either hiding or escaping that keeps the team safe."

"Why does Tank seem to always assign Hector when you are guarding me?" I asked feeling like the information was flowing now and I didn't want this free pass into the RangeMan world to stop until all my questions were answered.

"We get along; we always have so that's part of it. But the bigger part is that Hector has the ability to blend in if he wants to so that he isn't seen and from his near invisible vantage point he is a watcher. He can detect even the smallest change in someone or in a situation that is typically the first clue that a it's about to turn bad. Hector usually knows when an escape needs to be made and when we work together he alerts me and then I come up with a plan." His answer made perfect sense after seeing the two of them in action at the doctor's office. Hector had the perfect spot to warn us that something was wrong and Woody did get us out there safely.

"What else do you want to know?" He asked, apparently okay with talking about himself freely.

I thought took the opportunity I had and blurted out, "What's Tank's strength?"

Woody smiled, "Have you seen Tank? Ranger has known Tank since they were kids so they have a trust thing that he doesn't have with anyone else. Tank is a fighter start to finish. Ranger trusts him to have his back. Plus, after spending so much time together a lot of Ranger's skills have rubbed off on Tank and he is one hell of a tactician too. I think Ranger always wants Tank on the worst missions with him in case something goes wrong and he doesn't make it, that way Tank can pick up the command and get everyone else home."

"What about Lester?" I wondered.

Woody moved back a little at the mention of Lester's name. "He's a hell of fighter with absolutely no fear despite the odds. If you are going into an impossible situation where you are out numbered Lester is the one you want to lead the charge on your side. He'd do it without thinking twice about it. And, of the rest of us, he probably has the best people skills so if a situation needs a little finesse he is our best bet."

"Why did you straighten up when I asked about Lester?" I pressed, wondering if I might regret this question.

"I can't help it. I like Les, honest I do, but there is a piece of me that is insanely jealous about the amount of time you two spend together and how comfortable you are with him." He confessed looking back down at my feet as though concentrating on rubbing them was the most important thing in the world to him right now.

"Listen to me," I began, needing to be sure he understood what I was about to say. "We are comfortable because we are clear about our relationship. We have not been, nor will we ever be more than friends. There just isn't the attraction for that. I need you to understand that we have a history, and it's what makes us such good friends. But that history doesn't include any kind of romantic relationship."

"I know," He answered turning back to face me again. "But this is all so new and every time he is near you I just want to knock him out of the way and wrap my arms around you to show the world you are with me, not him." He paused for a minute before adding, "I'm working on it."

I leaned forward this time and put my hand against his cheek, loving the way he leaned into it automatically. "I think a little jealousy is an attractive trait. Too much and it seems like you don't trust me, but just a little is sexy."

He smiled at my comment and then turned his face to plant a kiss on my palm. "Just so you know I'd love to put you in my lap right now and pickup where we left off earlier, but Tank wants to see you and Lester wants to tell you about the proposal drop off. So we should probably go back upstairs to keep them from interrupting again."

I appreciated him telling me that before my hormones got out of control. Who am I kidding? The moment his hand hit my foot my hormones were doing a happy dance. "I'll go, but for the record I'd rather go with your first suggestion of picking up where we left off."

That comment earned me another amazing kiss from Woody who just leaned over to capture my lips with his. Just before I forgot my name he pulled back, but only enough to speak and said, "So would I, Darlin'."

He hopped up and held his hand out for me, which I gladly accepted to help extract me from the couch. I made a pit stop, put on my shoes and followed him to the fifth floor holding his hand happily.

Woody gave me a soft kiss on the cheek but let his lips linger before softly moving his nose back and forth in an endearing motion. The things this man did to me; just before my knees gave out he pulled back and asked, "Dinner?"

I nodded yes and then stood there enjoying the show of him walking away. As much as I loved his face, there was no denying this man's back side was a work of art. Squinting to be sure I kept it in focus as long as possible, Les popped into my field of vision all of a sudden causing me to blink rapidly to get him in focus. "Beautiful, have I got news for you!" He said, wrapping his arms around me in an enthusiastic hug.

"Alright, let's go have a seat and I want to hear all about your lunch with Marina," I told him, glad to see someone happy about sharing news with me.

We sat down in the break room where Lester pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge for me and handed it to me after he had removed the lid. "You drink, I'll talk." He commanded.

I did want to hear how it went so I took an extra long sip to show him I was cooperating and to get him to start talking. Les spun the chair across from me backward and straddled it to face me. "I took your advice and as I left I called the store to see if she had eaten lunch yet. She hadn't so I got her to agree to meet me at the little Thai Restaurant across the street from her store and over some great noodles, we went through the proposal."

"Did she like it?" I asked, hoping he had also managed to secure the account in addition to working on his relationship skills.

"Yea, she signed the contract at the full rate we bid it at, no negotiations at all." He said as though the contract were the least of his concerns right now.

"Anyway, when I explained how we'd secure the room I asked her about the materials she stored in there. She told me how it's especially made for her and it's one of a kind fabrics that can't be generated again, so in many ways, it's invaluable. You should have seen her face when she talked about the fabric, she glowed Steph." If I didn't know better I would say Lester was developing more than a little crush on Marina.

"When we finished eating she invited me back to her storeroom so she could show me some of the material and I learned a ton of stuff I'd never though about. When we were finished she told me she hoped she didn't regret this but she wondered if I might be interested in attending an event with her on Saturday evening. Her father is rolling out his new line of jewelry and he does a formal party charging people an entrance fee to get in and then the money goes to a local charity. So, she wants me to be her date."

We exchanged a high five and I could tell he was happy. I hated to do it, but I felt like I had to pop his bubble just a little by asking, "And you know you can't sleep with her, right?"

His face fell almost like a cartoon character. "Why not? She's so hot and sexy, and you can be damn sure she'd enjoy it."

"I have no doubt that you're right about that, but you can't sleep with her on the first date and then toss her aside like you do your other dates. You need to take her, find out why she opened her own clothing store instead of designing jewelry for her dad. You have to assume her father would have wanted her to stay in the family business instead of branching out on her own. Keep her talking and figure out a way to explain what you do without getting too technical about the work you do on the side for the government." I advised.

Les nodded to let me know that he heard everything I'd said and then he asked, "What do I need to wear to this thing? She said formal so that would be a tux, right?"

"Yes, it needs to be a tux", but we can probably do you a little better than just a plain penguin suit. You are going with a clothing designer so you need to look a cut above the plain tux. How about you let me make some calls for you and I'll get a fitting set up for you this afternoon." I volunteered, know exactly who I wanted to call.

He gave me a big hug and I was thrilled to see how easy it was to stay in the friend mode with Les even with all the changes that were going on in my life.

I stopped by my desk and dialed the familiar number to Vinnie's and waited to hear Connie's voice pick up before interrupting her to say, "Hey Con, it Steph, listen I need a favor."

"Sure thing, what do you need?" She volunteered giving me a sudden pang of guilt at how quickly she was willing to drop everything to help me out and I hadn't even bothered to stop by and chat in a few days.

"I need to help Lester get a tux for Saturday night, but it can't just be any tux. Does your cousin still own the formalwear shop?" I asked keeping my fingers crossed that the answer would still be yes.

"She sure does, what do you have in mind?" Connie was eager to help. That, plus she knew Les and was probably ready to picture him all decked out in formalwear.

"I want him in basic black, but instead of some horrible cummerbund and bow tie I want him in a vest that is patterned and black on black and a steel grey shirt underneath." I tried describing what I was after and Connie understood it immediately.

"Let me call her and see what she can do. What is he, a couple of inches over six feet?" Connie needed the details to see if there was a chance anything might fit.

"I think four inches over, and he's not the biggest guy on staff, maybe around two hundred and twenty pounds." I offered to help with the sizing.

"Let me call her now and see if she has something. When can Les go by for a fitting?" She asked. I told her I could send him over anytime this afternoon if it was possible.

Talking to Connie made me think of Lula and I remembered the last time I'd talked to her was when I hung up after telling her I knew who the mystery guy was but I never told her. I definitely owed her a call. The fact that she didn't chime in when I was talking to Connie meant she wasn't there at all so I tried her cell phone and smiled when Lula picked up on the first ring answering around what was obviously a mouth full of something.

"Lula, it's Steph, how are you?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't yell at me for how I left things the last time we talked.

"White girl. Where you been?" She asked apparently not holding too much of a grudge.

"I've been in the RangeMan building. It seems I've got another crazy so I'm under lock and key now." I hoped my explanation was good enough to keep her from asking any other questions.

I spent the next half hour catching her up on all my news; from Woody being the mystery guy, to our baby. When I told her I was pregnant I had to literally hold the phone away from my ear from her screaming.

"White girl, you gonna be a great Momma!" She said before adding, "And I'm gonna be a bitchin' Auntie."

I had to laugh at that and began to wonder if my baby's first word might be influenced by some of the colorful expressions of the circle of people that made up my extended family. I decided it was way too early to worry about that so I let it go and just enjoyed talking to my friend. My desk phone started ringing and I figured it was Connie so I rushed off my cell with Lula promising to call again soon.

I picked up the phone on my desk with a RangeMan "Yo," smiling at the thought of what Connie would say to that.

Instead I got a familiar voice who said, "Well, well, well you have been busy haven't you?" I recognized Jenkins' voice immediately. I stood up and looked around trying to get someone's attention. I didn't see anyone at their desk near me so I waved at the camera hoping the guys in the control room were watching.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep all the traces of panic out of my voice.

"I thought my notes made it obvious what I wanted. Although I was certainly disappointed to realize not only are you used merchandise but apparently your condition will be changing based on your doctor's appointment this morning." He said in a threatening way.

"What do you want?" I asked again raising my voice and writing the word Jenkins as large as possible with a black marker on a legal pad and holding it up to the camera.

"There's no reason to get testy. I wanted you to know that even in your current condition I think we can work something out. I mean you are still pretty early along which means a miscarriage isn't that unheard of. Maybe then we can have some fun." He told me making my knees feel weak so that I had to sit down again.

My rear end hit my desk chair as soon as I heard several pairs of boots come around the corner from the conference room. "I'll be watching for you and as soon as the time is right I'll make my move to help you out with your little problem so that we will be free to be together." When he said this he started laughing the cackle of a madman and then he hung up.

I looked up unable to move even to hang up the phone and saw four very concerned faces: Lester, Bobby, Tank and Cal were looking at me waiting for me to say something – anything.

I heard another set of thundering footsteps running towards us from the stairwell and hoped it was Woody. I needed to see him. I had to tell someone that Jenkins had threatened my baby and that someone needed to be Woody.

As soon as I saw his face I stood up, letting the phone fall from my hand and bang on the desk in front of me. Looking at him the tears began to fall in a stream down my cheeks. Woody didn't stop running until he had his arms around me. "What is it, Steph?" He asked with his face pressed against the top of my head.

"J-Jenkins," I sobbed.

"Did he threaten you?" Woody asked with an undercurrent of anger in his voice.

I nodded yes and said, "And the baby," But as soon as the words came out of my mouth my knees gave way and the world went dark.


	15. Relieving Tension

JE owns all the characters and deserves all the credit.

Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you for all your hard work as the Beta on this story.

Chapter 15 – Relieving Tension

What was wrong with all the voices in my head? They sounded fuzzy like they were far away or in the next room with the door closed to keep me from hearing. What a strange dream. I was in the office and Jenkins called my desk and threatened to do something to cause me to have a miscarriage. My eyes bolted open. That was no dream. I remembered it perfectly; the evil laugh before he hung up, the guys rushing to see what was wrong, and Woody who held me when I passed out.

I assumed the voices I heard in the next room belonged to the guys who were too worried to leave me here alone. I wanted to get up but I was afraid, as was usually the case after I'd been laying down, that I would get sick and have to run to the bathroom in front of them to complete the list of embarrassing things I could do in one day. Of course, once I'd thought about going to the bathroom that was all I could think about and pretty soon my body was making it clear that I had to get up.

I tried going slowly in the hope that the tips in the doctor's brochure were true. The room seemed to tilt a little when I sat up which was strange. I was used to my stomach rolling, but I hadn't experienced much dizziness. I sat still until that feeling went away and then stood up tentatively waiting to see if I would be secure on my feet. Thinking I was okay I began to slowly walk towards the sounds coming from the living room.

I was exhausted just from the effort of walking across the room. Something was definitely not right, but I had this pulling feeling that I needed to be in that room where everyone else was. I opened the door and continued my slow and steady progress down the hall to the bathroom. As soon as I shut the door to have some privacy I noticed that all the voices stopped immediately. Gee, could they have been more obvious that they were talking about me. All they needed were some nervous glances and the inability to look me in the eye and my suspicions that I was the main topic of conversation would be confirmed. I finished answering nature's call and used my fingers and some water from the tap to revitalize the mane that was my hair.

I opened the door and stepped out where the guys were seated and sure enough, the final two elements were there confirming my suspicions. "Don't stop talking about me because I'm here." I said with some of my irritation coming through in my voice.

Woody came to me from the bedroom with a blanket in his hand. He stood in front of me with only inches separating our faces. "How are you feeling?" He asked with the worry deeply etched on his face.

I wanted to say I was okay, but I also wanted to tell him the truth. I decided to try it this time and see if he panicked and sent me back to bed. "I'm a little dizzy, but I don't want to go back to bed."

Woody smiled softly and unrolled the blanket to put it around my shoulders. I hadn't thought I was cold, but when the blanket closed in front of me I tightened my shoulders absorbing the warmth. "Why don't you come with me to the kitchen and we'll get you something to eat? You're probably just too hungry. Do you feel like something in particular?" He asked desperate for something he could do to make me feel better.

The truth was I had very little appetite but I knew he was right that I should eat. Finally inspiration hit and asked, "Do you have anymore pickles?"

That brought a full smile on his face and he led me to the kitchen sitting me up on the counter as he had a few nights previously when he was making spaghetti. Woody had to bend over to get the jar out of the bottom of the fridge and I couldn't help the moan that escaped from my mouth at the sight in front of me. Woody, however, didn't understand what was the purpose of the sound and spun around assuming something was wrong. My face flushed immediately realizing he was going to expect an explanation of the noise.

"Would you believe I was just appreciating the view?" I asked sheepishly.

Woody walked back to the counter where I was sitting and pushed his way between my knees sitting the jar beside me. He nuzzled in the hair next to my ear and said, "You bet I would Darlin', I've made the same sound myself when I have watched you."

I shivered from the sensation of his deep voice vibrating and warm breath tickling my ear. He left his hips in place, but pulled back only enough to pick the jar up again and fish out a spear with his fingers. I started to lift my hand and to take it from him but he shook his head to stop my efforts and held it up in front of my lips for me to take a bite.

Tentatively, I took a taste and was pleased that the tangy flavor and firm crunchy texture seemed to be exactly what I wanted. When I got down to the last bite it was small enough that when he put it in my mouth his thumb and index finger were over my lips. I took the pickle, but I also closed my lips over his fingers and let my tongue lick over him.

He sighed a deep and satisfied sound just like the one that had been in my dreams. "The things you do to me," He began as he pulled his fingers away.

Just as I was about to object he leaned down to plant a kiss right where his fingers had been. I was just about to loose myself to his talented mouth when his tongue came out and traced my lips but the sound of someone behind us clearing their throat brought us back to reality and Woody pulled me tightly to his chest while he turned his head to see who had interrupted us.

"She needs to rest. Now isn't the time for that." Bobby said sounding firm in his recommendation for my activity level.

I didn't move but said, "I'm not going back to bed," with a whiney tone.

"Steph, you're dehydrated, your blood pressure was too low, and you haven't been eating well. You need to at least rest to give your body a chance to adjust to all of this in order to keep your baby safe," He reported with a slightly softer attitude.

"She'll be fine. She can sit with me on the couch," Woody said ending the debate of what I would do. He knew I wouldn't rest if I was sent back to bed and he probably assumed I would be better off where he could at least keep an eye on me. We walked into the living room and Lester jumped up from the couch he had apparently been sharing with Woody but a shake of Woody's head caused Les to sit back in his corner and when Woody sat down, he pulled me into his lap with my feet over the middle cushion.

I settled against his chest thinking I might have been too quick to say I wasn't tired. I was soothed by the feel of his arms around me and the sound of the heartbeat in his chest against my ear. I felt Woody's thumb go under my hair and as soon as it started running the lazy circles on my neck I shut my eyes. Hey, Bobby did say that I needed more rest.

I was only half listening to everything that was being said. I could tell they were talking about Jenkins and how to draw him out. They needed a distraction or something to entice him out but they weren't coming up with any good suggestions. There was only one solution in my mind and I was shocked they weren't saying anything about it because it was so obvious. I couldn't stand it anymore so I spoke up, "Why don't you just use me as bait and grab him where he tries to get to me?"

"No!" Six very hostile voices responded back, to me making me sit up and open my eyes.

"What? You have a better idea for drawing him out? Why not just let me go a few places that you can control like the bonds office and my parent's house. Have a team fanned out in the area so that if he tries to make a move you can get to him before he gets to me?" It seemed simple compared to some of the plans we've executed before.

Les spoke first, "Beautiful, there are so many things that could go wrong. We can't risk missing him. He could get to you first, or he could have one of his guys poised to hurt you from a distance. It's just too risky."

"But what other option do we have?" I asked fully alert now and pleased to note all traces of dizziness and exhaustion were gone.

This time Tank tried to talk, "Bomber, we just can't risk it. It would kill every man here if something happened to you or the baby. Please don't ask us to consider this."

I leaned back into Woody for a few seconds before saying, "You can't keep me locked up here forever. You know I can't live long without going out. Wouldn't it be better to plan my trips out ahead of time, and if we are able to get Jenkins at the same time, then we've killed two birds with one stone." I countered.

There was complete silence as the guys knew what I saying was true, they just didn't like it and admitting to that didn't sound manly enough for any one of them to speak up.

Bobby finally broke the silence of the room by saying, "You can't go out until you are stable. Doing this with you at a hundred percent is one thing, but right now you are not ready for such a stressful situation. It would be letting him win right off the bat by allowing something to happen to your baby."

As he said the last part Woody's arm tightened around me and his eyes went dark telling me exactly what he thought of me and the baby being in danger. I leaned back against him again and intentionally placed my head just under his chin. He rested his head against mine and relaxed slightly in his hold on me.

The guys began talking about how they could protect me at a distance in order to stay hidden from Jenkins. While they were lost in their discussion Woody spoke softly to me, "I don't like this even though I know it's the best plan. If something happened to you, or to the baby I don't know what I'd do."

It was hard to believe he felt so strongly about the baby. We'd each only known a matter of days and yet thinking of our life together without our unborn child was nearly impossible for us both. "You don't think I would go out without you right beside me do you? I'm not strong enough to put us in danger without someone beside me to take care of us."

His let out another one of his deep sighs telling me he was relieved to know I wanted him there. He didn't like the idea, but if I was going to do it anyway he wanted to be with me. Now he didn't have to worry about how to impose himself into the plan.

The guys decided the best placed to start would be an appearance at my parent's house for dinner tomorrow night. That worked out well, because it would give us a chance to tell my parents our big news and if my mother flipped out at least I could rest easy knowing we had back up to get us out there safely. The idea of telling my mother I was pregnant and not married and that I had no intention of staying home after the baby was born made this mess with Jenkins pale in comparison as a danger to my life.

After they had come up with a plan to cover my parent's house from every conceivable angle, the guys let themselves out. "How about some dinner?" Woody asked hopefully. "You can't survive off a single pickle."

I nodded that I would try and followed him to the kitchen. He put his head in the fridge and pulled out one of Ella's signature cauldrons that she delivered soup in. "Beef Stew?" He offered holding it up.

That sounded as good any anything else so I stepped back to let him begin the work of reheating our dinner. As he worked he talked, "I don't want to put any kind of pressure on you because I know you are comfortable at Lester's place, but I wondered if you might be willing to sleep with me tonight." He nearly dropped the spoons he was trying to use to set the table and then jumped in again quickly adding, "I mean, I just thought literally to sleep, to stay with me." His face, as red as it was, couldn't be any more adorable. Not that I was allowed to use that word very often when referring to the guys.

He started to talk again to explain that his intentions were entirely honorable. I shushed him and said, "I would love to stay with you tonight. I think I would rest better if I knew you were close enough to hold me. I may think that going out in public is the best idea, but the notion of being in danger or putting our baby in danger isn't all that appealing. If you don't mind me pushing my way into your bed, then I'd love to be here."

The microwave dinged that our meal was ready just as he had begun to walk toward me with a look in his eye that told me I needed to brace myself. Unfortunately, the sound broke that mood and he went into the kitchen instead of continuing his walk to me.

Alright, that did it! I'm tired of my life being beyond my control. It was time to take some kind of power back. I can't do anything about the Jenkins mess until tomorrow night and I know I need to eat something good for me to help the baby, so I would go along with eating some stew next, but come hell or high water I was going to have an orgasm tonight. I hoped to goodness that Woody would be responsible for it, but I was quickly getting into such a state that if he refused to help me I was going to have to take matters into my own hands…literally.

We got through dinner with very little conversation. He told me what Bobby had said about my condition after I passed out upstairs. They called my doctor who said a few days of bed rest would probably be helpful, but not exactly necessary as long as my blood pressure stabilized. Woody also told me that after he brought me downstairs for the first few hours there had to have been at least a dozen guys just hanging out in the hope that everything was going to be fine. Bobby kept coming out with regular updates on my stats and once he announced I was stabilizing Tank had to order most of the guys to leave so they could get back to work.

It was touching to know they were so concerned about me. My thoughts were interrupted when he added, "You know most of the guys have never been around a baby before, but they are all excited about this little one." He said pointing to my stomach. I sat back and remembered what Les and Bobby had said about how they were going to be great uncles.

I didn't pick up my spoon again so Woody took my half eaten bowl to the sink. Sensing this was probably the right moment to make my move I followed him into the kitchen and put my arms around his waist at the sink. He filled the bowls up with water, but I smiled when he shut the tap off instead of grabbing the sponge to wash them clean. I pressed my face against his back between his shoulder blades which allowed me to press the rest of my body firmly against him.

I loved the fact that I saw his knuckles getting white as he gripped the edge of the sink tighter to keep control of himself. I decided to apply a little more pressure and I flattened my palm and let one of my hands move from his waist up to his pectoral muscle.

"Steph," He said before he stopped to clear his throat. "You can't…It feels too good to be so close."

He wasn't making sense which meant I had been only partially successful in short circuiting his brain. I decided to up the effort. This time I allowed my hand to move down, but I curled my fingers so that my nails were lightly scratching as I moved from his chest, past his abs and just below his waist.

His sucked in an audible breath when my hand went past his stomach and continued south. I skipped over his waistband and flattened my hand once again to go down his hip and firmly to his thigh.

"Steph, you can't," He tried to explain but his words stopped there.

"I think I can," I disagreed with him causing Woody to spin around and face me. I tried not to let my face show how pleased I was that he moved. Not allowing him to get any distance between us I moved my arms up to his shoulders and pressed myself to the front of his body. "Not only can I do it, but I need to." I said in a voice that was lower and breathier than usual.

"But you're supposed to rest," He countered, making me rejoice at the fact that he didn't sound all that firm in his direction.

"I'll rest a lot better," I began explaining while stretching up to run my lips down his neck as I finished talking, "if I get rid of some of this tension I have. I think I could rest all night long if I could just get a little release." I wasn't sure where this was coming from. I never talked dirty and I wasn't even one to tease quite this suggestively. Still I was pleased to feel it was definitely having an effect based on the way he felt as I pressed my hips firmly against his.

"You mean the only way you can rest is if I take you back to our room and help you get rid of some energy?" He paraphrased, nearly losing me when he referred to the bedroom as ours instead of his.

"That's right," I agreed before sucking softly on his earlobe. "Think of it as a medicinal activity." I prompted him and was thrilled when he growled slightly before saying, "Bobby will kick my ass if he thinks I did anything with you."

"Bobby's not here," I countered. "And the more pressing issue is that I'll kick your ass if you don't."

And there it was. The final word he needed in order to finally act. Woody moved his hands to either side of my face and hungrily attacked my mouth with his. Kissing, sucking, nibbling, licking and moaning he made it very clear that he wanted this, wanted me, as badly as I did him. I began to pull backward to walk to the bedroom, but he wasn't allowing any distance and lifted me up by grabbing the back of my thighs and wrapping my legs around his waist.

He moved us swiftly to the bedroom and laid me on the bed but never allowed his hands to move from my body. Holding my eyes with his own he began to unbutton my shirt leaving only one button in place before asking, "Are you sure about this?"

I sat up with a start and grabbed two fists of his shirt to say, "More than anything in my life." That was the end of the talking as the final button was removed as an issue and his mouth went from my lips to my chest and he kissed across the top of my bra. His fingertips softly traced a path that his lips followed causing a trail of fire to form in its wake.

I realized he was still clothed and more than anything I wanted to feel his skin against mine. I began tugging at his shirt and he obliged me by standing up and yanking it off in one smooth motion. I licked my lips at the sight of his smooth bare chest in front of me. He slowly came back down on top of me and unclasped my bra in the front, pushing it back to expose my breasts in front of him.

He spoke first by saying, "You have to tell me if we need to stop or slow down. I'll listen if you tell me." He assured me as my body screamed for him to hush and bring his mouth back to where it had been just above my now missing bra.

I nodded so he would know I had heard him and moaned when his mouth fell exactly where I wanted it to be. His warm tongue traced around the sensitive skin near my nipple causing me to arch my back into his attentions. He moved his hand to rub my neglected nipple between his thumb and forefinger copying the movement of his tongue on the other side. I grabbed his hair in my hands and shamelessly pushed his head to the other breast. He allowed me to move him and quickly did exactly what I wished he would causing me to wonder if we had ESP. If we did, now was the perfect time to test it out.

I was already feeling the pool of desire building in my stomach as my hips lifted up and ground into his chest pressed between my legs. As if he knew how close I was he began to suck harder with his mouth. His fingers which had been only lightly touching me were now pinching and tugging just enough to make me erupt with animalistic sounds as I pushed against him calling his name and holding his head still against my chest.

Woody was very still for a moment making me worry that he was going to say that was enough for one night. Fortunately, that was definitely not what he thought as he pulled back enough and asked, "Can you bare it if we keep going?"

I managed to hold back my happy dance but I was able to answer him, "Only if we can ditch the rest of these clothes."

The smile on his face was quite possibly the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. He stood up and surprised me by unbuttoning my pants and pulling my jeans off leaving me in nothing but my black panties which were primarily lace with a little pink rose at the top center.

He bent back down as though he were going to begin kissing near that rose, but I stopped him by saying, "I meant all the clothes, including yours." Then I sat up on my knees and reached out for his belt. I was glad he helped me get the buckle undone, but he let me unbutton them and pull the zipper down. He had on black boxer briefs underneath framing every hard inch of him. When he backed up to take off his cargoes he got rid of his briefs at the same time leaving him in his naked glory.

I took advantage of my position when he stepped back to the foot of the bed and kissed my way from his collarbone straight down his sculpted chest and continuing to his navel. He sucked in a breath when my tongue briefly dipped in and then I continued my way to the hard muscle pointing straight out to me. I gripped him firmly in one hand and then used my tongue to lick away the pearl of moisture waiting on his head. I circled his head twice before quickly sucking him into my mouth accommodating as much as I could.

Woody said my name through gritted teeth which only encouraged me to keep going. I moved my mouth and hand in concert listening to the sounds he made each time I took in a little more, increasing the suction with each thrust. With no warning Woody pulled away from my grip, put his hands under my arms and pushed me further up the bed.

He climbed over me and kissed his way from the tip of my toes, past my ankle and up to my knee. He briefly allowed his hand to run behind my leg and touch the normally ticklish area on the back of my knee. Then he resumed his path up my thigh. When his head got exactly where I wanted him most I pleaded, "Please, Woody, now, please."

He grabbed my panties ripping them from me in one swift motion. I never even felt it until his mouth descended on the tender folds between my legs making me buck my hips from the bed. "God, Steph, you are so wet," He said as he slid a single finger in me and withdrew it slowly.

I wasn't usually one for conversation during sex but I wanted him to know what I needed, "Woody, now, I need you now." It was breathy and my head moved back and forth as I said it, but he got the message loud and clear.

All teasing was gone and he moved up to my face to kiss me once while holding his body off of mine. As the kiss began to calm he lowered himself slowly to me and I moaned at the warmth that overcame me as our bodies touched. I knew from the sparks I felt just from the feel of his skin on me that when he entered me it would probably set me off.

I had no idea. He slowly pushed himself deeply into me and I screamed his name as I came immediately. My nails dug into his shoulders and I had no remorse for the marks that I was sure would be there in the morning. He stilled for a moment allowing me to regroup and when his hips pulled back nearly removing him from inside me I felt a soft tingling begin again. How I could possible still want him this strongly was beyond me, but I went off of pure desire and I moved my hips in time with his. He alternated between hard and deep and slow and tender, but when I moved my hands to his hips and dug my nails in again he swore, "Jesus, Stephanie," and began to push himself even deeper into me.

My eyes shut and I gave into the feeling of him overwhelming me in every way. As he pushed into me a final time I felt myself explode and white lights appeared behind my eyelids at the same moment I heard him growl my name and fill me with his warmth. We were both breathing heavily and Woody only moved tenderly to prolong the sensation we were both experiencing.

When I could hear I realized he was talking nearly too soft for me to hear. It was Spanish so I had no hope of understanding his soft words. With my eyes still closed I asked, "What does that mean?"

Woody rolled off of me but pulled me over to rest on him so our connection wouldn't be broken. He moved his hand to my favorite position and began rubbing hypnotic circles on my neck and translated his previous comments for me, "I told you that you were my whole heart. In all my experience I've never had someone consume me the way you did and when we came I felt that it was my very heart that moved from my body to yours. I adore you Stephanie and even though I know you might feel it is too soon for me to say it…"

I knew exactly what he was going to say and I needed to interrupt him. Not because I was panicked about hearing it, but because just this once with this man who had so completely claimed me as his in every way, I wanted to tell him first. I wanted to say it because it was true, not because I thought it was an expected response.

To keep him from talking I lifted my head and kissed him softly and as our lips parted I said, "I love you." When I opened my eyes and focused on his face I saw an emotion I had never seen before. His eyes looked moist but I knew no tears would fall. I felt my heart rate begin to increase as his eyes drew me into him. His voice, full of tenderness whispered, "I love you too, Stephanie. I have for a long time. But to think that you feel the same way is almost too much to believe."

I moved so that I was completely on top of him straddling his waist with my legs. We began to kiss again and as our lips expressed what our voices could not, my hips began to move against his until he lifted me slightly and slipped into me again. This time he allowed me any time to adjust to his entry before he continued the slow movements. They were such sweet torture as every movement seemed to make me hotter and wetter, increasing my desire for him, yet he made no attempt to alter the rhythm to bring us to an orgasm easily.

With such a slow movement I could change the angle of my hips on almost every thrust allowing him to touch different places in me building a tension tighter than a spring. Yet, I didn't want this moment, this connection, to end. I was in no hurry to get to the pleasure of an orgasm. For the first time in my life the payoff wasn't the explosion at the end. It was the beauty in every touch, every breath, every sound and every filling thrust.

Tears began to slip from my eyes, not from sadness or pain, but from the fact I had never felt so loved in my life. His eyes never closed as he leaned up to kiss the tears from my cheeks and whisper, "I know Darlin', I feel it too."

I believed him and it made the tears fall with a greater urgency. Unexpectedly he sat up slightly holding his torso upright with his hands behind him. It allowed him to move even deeper within me and touch the most sensitive places, effectively stopping the tears and focusing me on every new sensation. Since I was still straddling him, our faces were closer together and only gave a greater since of intimacy.

It was not with a hard bang but a final tender joint thrust that we came together. Woody wrapped his arms around me and laid me on his chest before pushing my knees for me to straighten them.

His hands moved up and down on my back lightly as our breath synchronized and my eyelids became too heavy to fight against. I shut them and took a shuttering deep breath allowing my body to completely relax on the exhale.

"Sleep Stephanie," He whispered to my hair. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

I felt sleep come and did not fight to keep it at bay. My last conscious memory was of him telling me, "I love you," as the darkness came.


	16. More Than I Bargained For

_JE owns all the characters below. She created them, I just play with them._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you once again for your help and support as the Beta on this story._

**Chapter 16 – More than I Bargained For**

I awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the door to the apartment. I could hear Woody swearing about someone knocking before 7:00 since everybody knows I don't do mornings. I rolled over when he walked out and moved into the warm spot where he had been laying and drew in a deep breath reveling in the smell of him in the bed. I objected to the loss of his arms around me but I appreciated him getting up so that I didn't have to. The few times I woke up during the night I noticed we were touching each other and I was sure the comfort of that contact is why I slept as soundly as I did.

I wouldn't stretch it so far as to say I felt like getting up and facing the day, but I didn't feel like it would take an act of God to get me up out of bed today either. I decided to try and get up slowly to see if it helped with the morning sickness. I eased my way up and sat on the edge of the bed for a minute or two. While sitting up I realized that I was completely naked so I needed to find something to put on before I could go to the bathroom. I stood up and looked around but could only identify the pieces of my panties that had been ripped off of me and our pants. I scooted Woody's cargoes out of the way with my foot and saw his shirt on the floor so I bent over to use that as a makeshift nightgown. As I stood back up and pulled it over my head I realized it had been a mistake to bend over like that and I felt the need to run down the hall to the bathroom.

All conversation stopped when I ran past the boys and began the day by retching once again. Woody followed me in and pulled my hair back and slowly rubbed up and down my back while I waited to make sure I was done. I flushed and then tried to get up to rinse out my mouth but I didn't quite have the strength to do it yet so I settled for sitting down on the floor for a minute and waiting for the room to stop looking like I was on a merry-go-round.

Woody didn't let me go and I realized how sweet he was being. His presence didn't feel obtrusive in any way and I appreciated his calming support. I cherished it even more when he said, "How about you let me help you stand to freshen up here and then we'll get you to the couch and I'll make you some toast and some hot tea?" It seemed like a better idea than my plan which had been to stay on the floor until the baby was ready to be delivered, so I went with his suggestion.

When I was finished at the sink, Woody picked me up and carried me over to the sofa and sat me down. That was the first time I noticed the early morning visitor was Lester. He was sitting in the easy chair beside the couch and he stood up as soon as Woody brought me in and came over to see for himself that I was alright. I waved him off but he came over anyway and when Woody went to the kitchen, he sat down on the edge of the cushion beside me. Woody's t-shirt was long on me and covered all of my bits, but I was suddenly aware that I had nothing else on and felt a little exposed. I tried to cover myself up with the blanket that I had used last night and laid it over my legs to preserve a little modesty.

Seeing what I was doing Les tucked it in around my legs and then jumped right in for the reason for his visit. "I hated to wake you guys up, but I needed your advice before my shift started because I didn't think I would get another chance to see you before I had to leave to pick up Marina."

I liked it when people asked for my opinion so I nodded that he should continue. "Connie called me yesterday and had me go to a formalwear store that her cousin owns. They had a tux that fit me perfectly but they didn't have a vest like what you described so only bought the tux. Then Connie and Lula called back and said that Sally Sweet might have something and last night he dropped off a vest, but I don't know if it's what you had in mind so I wondered if you would look at it and tell me what you think." He seemed nervous which was endearing, and slightly unusual.

"Of course I will," I assured him and smiled when he turned around and picked up a purple bag that contained the vest and tie. They were a matte black with a glossy pattern in black running from the top to the bottom. It was absolutely perfect and I knew that Les would look stunning. There was only one thing left that I hadn't considered, "Do you have cufflinks?"

Lester's head snapped up at my question. "Yea, I do. I have a pair that were my Dad's. Can I wear them with this shirt?" He pulled a grey formal shirt out and I saw the sleeves were cut in a french style which would allow for them.

"Yep, you'll need them to make it look right." I told him and loved the smile that lit up his face.

"Les, are you nervous about tonight?" I asked him wondering what the vibe was that I was picking up from him.

"It's strange. Normally, I'd be excited because anytime I go through this much trouble for a date it's because I'm guaranteeing that the evening will end the way I want it to. But you said that I can't sleep with her so I've been trying to think about what we can talk about and I think I've got it under control, however, I am worried about what to do at the end of the evening. You said no sex, but does that mean no to everything? Can I kiss her? Do I shake her hand? Do I give her a hug? What do I do?"

He looked like he was at a complete loss so I tried really hard not to laugh. "Do what feels right. You're not eighteen. You know when a woman wants to be closer to you. But just remember not to let this go any further than what you're willing to continue. If you kiss her then you're committing to seeing her again. If you don't, then there shouldn't be any hard feelings about not seeing each other again. But, no matter what happens, you need to understand that I expect a full recounting in the morning, sometime after 9:00."

Les smiled my favorite little crooked smile and pulled a curl before hopping up and repacking all his clothes and saying goodbye. Woody walked him to the door and from the corner or my eye, when I leaned and nearly fell all the way off the couch; I saw them do a manly fist bump as a goodbye so I figured they were getting along better.

Woody brought me breakfast and sat at my feet on the sofa while I ate. We talked a little about what Saturday mornings were like when we were growing up and we found out that we had very similar tastes in cartoons and breakfast cereal. What's not to love about a guy that understood the perfection of cereal with little marshmallows in it? The Justice League and Lucky Charms, what a way to start the day. It was so easy to get to know Woody and I found the more little details I learned, the more I craved to know.

He had some things to take care of upstairs and needed to follow up on some leads on a skip he and Zip had been assigned to, so he asked as he was putting the dishes in the sink if I was going to be okay. I smiled, "I've been taking care of myself for years now, I think I can handle this too."

He stood up to get ready but turned back quickly, "Not that I don't love seeing you in my shirt, because I do, but just in case you need them, Les brought over some clothes for you. I put them in the bedroom for you." Good, that answered what I was going to do for clothes.

After Woody left I decided to try getting ready for the day and was pleased that I had no trouble getting showered and dressed. Since I knew we were going to my parent's house for dinner I thought I would wear something a little nicer. It seemed pointless but I still wanted to look good when I went to my execution. I put on a pair of khaki's and paired it with the blue blouse I picked up at Marina's shop. Maybe it would be different enough from my normal fair that it would distract my mother when I told her I was pregnant.

I went with minimal make up but did put on mascara, lip gloss, and a smoky blue eye shadow. That still counted as minimal, right? It took a few tries of putting the shirt on, then taking it back off to adjust the ties in the back and trying it again in front of the mirror, but I eventually got it just the way I wanted it and I set out for my cubicle. It was Saturday so I didn't have to work, but since I spent most of yesterday afternoon in bed after passing out, I figured I could run a few searches to show Tank I was trying to earn my keep.

The office area was quiet when I got there so I sat down and pulled the first search down, jumping right in. Halfway through, the programs seemed to be running in slow motion so I picked up my cell phone to call Lula and thank her for helping Les yesterday.

"White Girl, you do going?" She said as soon as I got hello out of my mouth.

"I'm alright," I assured her.

"Lester done told me all about your baby and that fine man you with now. He said you real happy, but this shit with that crazy man Jenkins is stressing you out." She said, effectively letting me know that Lester had filled her in on everything going on.

"That about sums it up." I agreed.

We talked for another fifteen minutes just catching up on gossip. When it looked like my search was finally done running I quickly thanked her for helping Les and for calling Sally.

"Girl, that man is crazy. When I told him about needing help with dressing Lester he was more than happy to help out." She told me and I laughed at the image of Lester letting Sally Sweet handle dressing him. When we finished chuckling at the image of Lester and Sally working together, she told me, "You call me tomorrow so I know you survived dinner with your mama." I agreed before hanging up and returning to work.

At least I knew I wasn't overreacting if Lula thought there was a chance I might not survive either.

I had finished two searches when a plate landed in front of me on my desk. I spun around to see a sexy smiling Woody leaning over my chair. "I thought you might need a hot lunch."

I don't know what came over me but I replied, "Yes, and I see you brought me food too."

He understood what I was implying and his eyes darkened slightly as he drew closer and kissed me. It had only been a few hours since he left the apartment, but feeling his lips on mine felt like I was coming home after a long trip away. It was warm and loving and everything I needed it to be. It was hard to say there was one body part on Woody that exceeded the others, but if I had to try, his lips would be pretty high up on the list.

I was nearly breathless when he pulled back slightly and said, "Trust me, Darlin', if I didn't have to leave to pick up a skip I'd have you back downstairs in a heartbeat." He placed another tender kiss on my lips almost as an apology for what he couldn't do, but yearned for anyway.

When he stood up he looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'll be back by twenty 'til six for us to leave together for your parent's house. Zip will ride with us, Tank, Zero and Hector will be floating on the perimeter and Vince. Cal and Ram will be at fixed points on the street leading to their house."

I nodded that I understood. I was sure the true explanation of what everyone would be doing was much more detailed, but I appreciated Woody giving me the Reader's Digest version so that I was still in the loop. I knew with those guys looking out for us, the baby and I would be fine.

Before he walked away he pointed at the plate and said, "Try to eat something, Bobby said the more you eat during the day the better you should feel. Plus, you'll need your strength tonight, so try to eat."

I looked down and saw a serving of chicken pot pie with vegetables. I knew Ella had made it and it would be delicious, but my heart wasn't exactly in it. Just before Woody turned the corner to head to the elevator he called out to me, "Oh Steph, I put a jar of pickles in the break room for you too."

"I love you," I called out to him in response. Initially I said it as a joke to show my appreciation for him being so thoughtful with getting the one thing that I really seemed to enjoy eating, but when I thought that anyone listening would only hear the words and not know that they were said as a joke I didn't feel any panic. It was true regardless of how it was heard, so I was fine with announcing it aloud.

Woody however, turned on his heel and dashed back to my cubicle and just as I stood up to claim a pickle from the fridge his strong arms spun me around, wrapped around my waist and pulled me forcefully to him to kiss me once more. This kiss was full of passion and I was thankful for the support of his arms to hold me up. When he pulled back he said in a rough sounding voice, "Darlin' you need eat so that you have enough strength for when we get home tonight. Hearing you say that out loud nearly did me in. Tonight, I intend to show you how much it means to me that you would say you loved me aloud for everyone to hear."

Teasingly I said, "Play your cards right mister and that may not be the last time I say it."

He planted one more kiss on me before backing away, still smiling. God, that dimple alone was enough to do me in.

This time he stayed gone and I managed to begin my lunch with a pickle, but I also finished half of the meal he brought to me. Once I got started, I realized I was hungrier than I thought, but I primarily ate because of the promise of what would happen when we got home tonight. I wanted to be sure I had enough energy to keep up. If last night was any measure, I had all kinds of good things to look forward to.

I worked for two hours past my lunch break and was there when Tank stopped by briefly to chat. He was glad to see I felt up to working, but he warned me not to do too much. He also told me that Vince was going to stop by and see me on Monday afternoon to work on the B&E skills Tank wanted me to learn new skills. Then Tuesday, he had some sales calls set up that he wanted me to accompany him on. He would be present to discuss the technical aspects of the proposals, but he wanted me to work on the client's comfort level. He thought we would work well together and after listening to him describe it I was excited to try. If I could survive tonight, then next week had a lot to look forward to.

At five thirty I was quickly becoming a nervous wreck. Woody walked through the door and began madly tearing off his clothes. The sight of his shirt coming off was enough to interrupt my emotional train wreck and distract me for as long as he stood still. He continued pulling off his boots and socks and unzipped his pants before calling out, "I'll be ready to roll in less than ten minutes, I just need to take a quick shower and change. Do you want to pick out something for me to wear?"

I walked into the bedroom excited for the chance to look through his closet and select an outfit. I mean, it isn't snooping if you were told to look, is it? I found a nice pair of olive Dockers and a camel colored button up shirt. It would probably make his tanned arms look even more golden, and the idea of ripping the shirt open, allowing the buttons to fly off instead of undoing it slowly was enough to make me wonder if I needed to freshen up to get a grip on my hormones.

Before I could decide if that would help, I came out of the closet and saw Woody step in wrapped in a white towel hanging low and slightly loose around his waist. I bit my lip hoping if I did it hard enough, the pain would keep me from acting on the urge to pull that towel off and throw him on the bed.

Woody began to laugh and walked quickly to take the clothes from my hands saying, "Tonight, Darlin', I promise." I should have been embarrassed at the thought of saying that out loud but at the Moment I was too excited about his promise to let me act out my fantasies to care.

He was true to his word and we walked out hand in hand at precisely twenty 'til six putting us at my parent's house with five minutes to spare.

Zip had driven us and told me he would be in the car all night, and to just send him a text if I needed any help inside. I thought he meant in case Jenkins somehow contacted me or slipped through their defenses, but I couldn't help but feeling better knowing I had back up if my mother got too far out of control.

Woody got out first and stepped to my door taking longer than usual to look around securing the area. Zip explained that part of it was for show in case Jenkins or Bertucci were there. We wanted it to look like I was only with two guys to protect me and that was why he was taking extra precautions with my safety.

When Woody opened the door he leaned in and said, "I want you to walk in front of me straight to the door. Ring the bell, but then go straight in. Don't waste time standing on the front porch, okay?" I nodded that I agreed, and when I got out of the car I followed his instructions to a T. Of course, my mother's radar was working perfectly so before my foot hit the porch she flung the door open inviting us both in.

I could see the smile linger a little longer when she saw Woody's hand on my back. I decided to let her enjoy the Moment and not ruin it by telling her I had a crazy after me yet again and he was just trying to stay as close to me as possible to protect me. I knew my mother – I didn't learn how to get to denial land on my own. I was raised by a woman with a clearly fixed road map there in her mind.

As soon as she shut the door Grandma came down the stairs in a knee length fuchsia sundress and white tennis shoes. "Well ain't this a pip? You brought the cowboy back to talk to me."

I dug my teeth into my cheek in an attempt to keep from laughing when Woody moved from my side and immediately stepped behind me, pressing his body into mine. I tilted my head back and commented, "I thought you were supposed to be the one protecting me, not the other way around."

I felt his chest shake with laughter as he replied, "Change of plans because of a shift in the most immediate threat. I can't very well protect you outside if I leave here walking with a limp."

Before I could respond, my Dad called Woody to the den to watch the game with him. Woody gave me a kiss on the top of my head and retreated to the safety of the man cave where my father spent most of his time hiding from my grandmother.

I followed Grandma Mazur into the kitchen and when the door closed behind us I regretted it instantly. Grandma put her hand down the top of her dress and began adjusting herself complaining, "I don't know if this dress is going to work on me. I couldn't wear a bra because of the thin straps and this stretchy elastic top is pinching me in all the wrong places. I mean a good nipple pinching can be a lot of fun in the right circumstances, but walking down the stairs isn't one of those times."

I sat on the stool behind the cabinet where my mother was tossing a salad. Mom opened the pantry door and pulled out her favorite bottle for a swig and then tipped it to me offering me some whiskey. I shook my head no and then hoped she didn't ask why I wasn't joining her in some pre-dinner tippling, because I wasn't ready to explain why I couldn't have anything to drink.

Once her bottle was secure again in it's now obvious hiding place she turned her attention back to the salad and started talking. "It's so nice to see Woodrow back with you. I noticed him leading you into the house. He certainly seems attached to you."

I knew she was fishing, but I didn't know how much I wanted to tell her without Woody there to back me up. "I think we are getting attached to each other."

"Well, you better seal the deal soon. He looks like he could be up for a long midnight ride and I've been reading online about ways to make it last longer for a man. When I tried some of the tips on Mr. Lewinsky he nearly passed out, but your stud looks like he's got the endurance to give it a go." Grandma Mazur commented.

My mother and I locked eyes obviously thinking the same thing. She shoved the salad into my hands and said, "Go call the men to the table. Mother, we're ready to eat."

The sudden change in topic seemed to have temporarily shut down Grandma dolling out sex advice, so I gladly left to tell the men that dinner was ready.

We sat down with Woody slyly taking the seat between my Dad and me leaving Grandma to my left. Mom brought out the breadsticks in a basket, and then proceeded to bring out a huge pan of lasagna and place it in the center of the table. I had to swallow hard to keep my stomach from revolting at the look and sudden overwhelming smell of tomato sauce. I was caught between trying to keep from needing to run to the bathroom and feeling the pressure to let my mother serve me so that she wouldn't be suspicious. I helped myself to salad and bread easily enough and when my mother asked for my plate so that she could put a slice of lasagna on it I handed it to her obediently.

I felt Woody's hand on my thigh under the table when I sat my plate down turning it so that the food I could eat was closest to me. He reached over with his fork and took a big bite of my dinner and put it in his mouth with a wink. He was clearly trying to help me keep up the appearance that everything was fine. He knew I wanted to tell them tonight, but he wasn't pressuring me to do it.

We settled into a peaceful silence while everyone worked on their dinner and when my Dad asked for more lasagna my mother automatically asked if I wanted more too. It wasn't until that Moment that she looked past the bread basket where I was hiding my plate and saw nearly the whole serving she had giving me was still there. Woody had eaten some, and I had scraped off the cheese from the top, but I hadn't been able to stomach the idea of putting the pasta and sauce in my mouth.

"Stephanie Plum, you tell me what is wrong this instant?" She was staring at my plate in disbelief. There was no point in denying it. There were few things in my family that would keep us from eating a meal and any made up excuse wasn't going to cut it with my mother.

I put my fork down and wiped my mouth with my napkin buying time and scrambling for the right words. Coming up blank I looked at her and said, "I've been having trouble eating lately." I couldn't help but try a little evasion even though I held out little hope that it would work.

"Are you sick? Have you been to see the doctor? I thought you were looking a little pale, what did the doctor say?" My mother was beginning to panic. The women in my family were all healthy. My father could attest to what good genes we had because every year he got his hopes up when Grandma Mazur went in for her physical and every year they were dashed again when she came home with all perfect reports.

I didn't want to worry her so I decided to come clean, "Mom, I'm not sick." Woody's hand held mine in my lap and I felt a sudden surge of strength from his silent support. "I'm not sick, I'm pregnant."

My mother dropped the serving spoon over the top of the lasagna. My father repeated the word, "pregnant?", and Grandma Mazur chimed in and said, "Hot damn, Steph's gotten her a piece of the cowboy. Was he wild and free? Did he wear his boots to bed? Did he want you to make any noises?" Before she could say anything else my Dad jumped in and said, "Enough!" The silence that followed his loud exclamation allowed us to hear him call her a crazy old bat under his breath.

Dad turned to Woody and asked, "Yours?"

Woody nodded and said, "Yes sir. I love your daughter and we've been happy since we found out a couple of days ago. Even though this isn't the most traditional of starts I can promise you that I am in this for the long haul and I'll be by her side as long as she'll have me in whatever role she'll allow."

My Dad absorbed that for a minute and then pointed his fork at his mother-in-law before sarcastically saying, "Welcome to the family." He then tucked back into his dinner apparently satisfied that I was would be taken care of.

My mother however picked up his last phrase and said, "We need to get busy with the wedding. You'll need to do it as soon as possible so that you aren't showing much in your dress."

"Mom," I interrupted. "You don't need to plan a wedding."

Grandma Mazur jumped in, "You're going to elope? I'll bet he'll take you to Vegas. You know they have a rodeo there now too? I'll bet he can ride a bull. Do you have chaps?" Her questions were leaving Woody in a daze so I interrupted her to finish what I wanted to tell my mother.

"We aren't running off to get married just because I'm pregnant. I don't want anyone to be stuck in a marriage because they feel obligated to make this official." I explained and I felt Woody let go of my hand. It struck me that he had been very clear that he wouldn't marry me out of obligation but out of love. It would make sense that he would think I was talking about myself then instead of him.

I couldn't let that wrong impression hang out there so I opened my mouth and talked without a plan, "I love Woody. I think we'll be very happy together, but I don't know how many life changes I can take at once. I just found out about the baby, and we're beginning to try a relationship. If we decide to get married I want to be able to celebrate that as the important event that it is, not as something we did quickly just to make it seem like the pregnancy was planned."

Apparently my words helped as his hand reappeared on my leg and he was using his thumb to draw those seductive circles on my thigh.

"So you love him?" My mother asked and I nodded in reply. "And you aren't opposed to marrying him at some point?" I nodded in agreement, not trusting my voice since Woody's hand move further up my leg and closer to the promise land. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I'd moan or say something embarrassing.

"If he asked you, would you say yes?" My mother pushed and I was too focused on his hand to think through what she was doing so I answered without thinking, "Yes, I love him."

As I said that, Woody's hand that was making slow and sensuous circles on my leg stopped immediately causing me to lock eyes with his. The brown that was usually present around his pupils went very dark and his expression shifted to something that I had not seen before. He looked shocked at my exclamation, but more than that he looked happy, excited almost.

My mother was watching us very closely so when she turned and went into the kitchen I was glad for the chance to escape from her pressure about us getting married. When she returned to the table she took my plate and sat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of me. I looked up at her confused and she explained, "You can't force yourself to eat things that your body doesn't want when you're still going through morning sickness, but you have to eat something. This will give you what you need to keep from getting hungry."

I guess the body snatchers that took my mother during our last visit left her replacement for this one too. She wasn't pushing about the wedding and she was being understanding about how I was feeling so unsettled. Of course she did have a smug expression on her face that told me she thought she had won a major victory. I'd have to rerun everything that had been said later to figure out what gave her such a dose of happy.

When everyone else was finished, she cleared the table and brought out tiramisu for dessert. I was shocked when the first serving went to Woody instead of my Dad. When Woody reached out for the plate my mother held on to it for a Moment getting his attention before saying, "You take care of her and that baby."

"Yes ma'am," Woody's tone showed how seriously he took taking care of the baby and I. She let go of his plate and finished serving everyone else, including me.

I said a silent prayer when I put the first forkful of dessert in my mouth. I loved tiramisu and didn't want to have to give it up for the next nine months. The relief was nearly overwhelming when it hit my tongue and the flavor was amazingly delicious. I moaned in delight and in relief and jumped when Woody squeezed my thigh with his hand between my legs. Apparently he liked the sound but didn't want me to keep making it here. I tried to be quiet, but it was so good that I'm not entirely sure I was successful. Of course if he kept rubbing those damn circles on my leg with his hand that close to my doodah I might begin moaning for an entirely different reason.

We finished the evening up relatively easily. After dessert my Dad and Woody retired back to the den to finish watching the game. I helped Mom with the dishes and she regaled me with stories about her pregnancies and how she craved pickles for the entire nine months. I admitted to Woody giving me one and my being hooked from then on out. It felt strange to talk with my mother like this. She seemed so much more relaxed and at ease than I remembered seeing her.

Woody came in to see if I was ready to leave just as I yawned. He laughed and said, "I guess that answers my question, it looks like you're ready for bed at the very least."

Unfortunately Grandma Mazur was standing right behind him and I noticed him jump when she said, "I certainly am, but only if you can find a stud to join me. I'm guessing with my granddaughter knocked up, it means you're off the market." Woody paled and I laughed at how easily this little old lady seemed to scare all the guys I worked with.

I hugged everyone goodbye and smiled when my mother pulled Woody to her for in an embrace. We weren't usually so touchy feely as a family but it seemed that something big had happened tonight and the need to seal it with some contact felt right.

Just before we opened the front door Woody caught my eye and said, "Stay right behind me as close as you can manage, okay?" I nodded that I heard him and he stepped out surveying the night for any potential threats.

We were half way to the SUV where Zip was waiting when I heard the first shot ring out. Woody whipped around and grabbed me bending us both lower but pulling me along beside him as we ran to the truck. As soon as the door closed behind us Woody was running his hands all over me looking for anywhere that I might be injured. "Are you okay? Did he get you?" There was a definite panic in his voice.

My eyes met his and I put a hand on the side of his face effectively halting his fear. "I'm fine. You got us out of there, and nothing happened to us." I was surprised at how easy it was to refer to myself in the plural, accounting for the baby too. Strange how something I assumed would freak me out came so naturally now that it was here.

I ran my hand down his face, along his shoulder and down his arm before putting my hand over his heart and resting it there briefly. When I took my hand away I saw there was blood on his shirt from my hand which had me quickly looking us over to see which one of us was bleeding. Then I saw the hole in the top of his shirt sleeve and I knew that at least one of the shots had hit Woody. "You're bleeding," I said, my voice cracking in fright.

He looked down and pulled the sleeve a little before saying, "It grazed me. Literally, it's just a scratch. You'll see when Bobby looks at it back at the office. I won't even need stitches." I listened to him, but I wouldn't be able to believe him fully until Bobby confirmed what he was saying was true.

"I felt it pass by my arm and I panicked. I was so scared that one had gotten to you, that somehow I had allowed myself to be distracted by the visit with your family and I'd failed to protect you." His hand was on my cheek spreading warmth from his palm to my face. I was suddenly feeling very cold. It was early in the fall so a cool evening wasn't all that unexpected, but the shivering I was suddenly doing seemed a bit extreme.

"Steph," Woody said trying to get me to focus on him. He had to be able to feel me shaking and I didn't want him to worry so I told him, "I'm alright, j-just a little cold."

He took his hand away, which only made me cooler, but when I realized he was digging around in the back of the SUV I knew he would come up with something to warm me up. Sure enough, when he turned around he was holding an off-white blanket which he wrapped around me quickly before pulling me into his lap to share some of his body heat with me.

I'd have to remember to thank Bobby for updating the first aid kits in the RangeMan vehicles. At the time I resented it when he said they each needed a blanket in them because I knew it was to cover me up if something went wrong at a distraction, right now I appreciated his thoughtfulness as well as the soft fleece blanket that Ella had purchased.

Back at Haywood Zip pulled up directly to the elevator and he jumped out to push the call button. Only when the doors opened did Woody pull us out. I insisted on walking. As much as I wanted to stay in his arms my conscience wouldn't allow me to let him carry me since he had been shot just Moments before.

I heard the sound of squealing tires as the doors closed and knew the other guys were arriving. We went straight to the conference room on five and I was thrilled to see Bobby walk in with his bag. Woody told him to check me out, "She says she didn't get hit, but she got cold suddenly on the drive back and I think she's in shock."

I stood up to object, informing Bobby, "Woody is the one that got shot, for goodness sake stop with the chivalry act and take care of the guy with blood on his shirt first." My words seemed to do the trick as Bobby moved his attention to Woody who rolled his eyes in a way that made me smile at the effect I was having on him. He may not be from the Burg but if he wants a relationship with a girl from there, he was going to have to learn to accept eye rolling as a form of communication.

The guys came in just as Bobby finished dressing Woody's arm. Of course his diagnosis in the SUV was right, and no stitches were required. The meeting began as soon as Tank walked in. I could see he was relaxed which made me hopeful that there would be good news.

The report was given to Tank, but the guys speaking seemed to look to Woody just as much. Ram began by saying, "We got Jenkins right after the first shot rang out. I hit him with a single bullet in the leg and Hector got him with a shot in the chest. The EMT's were working on him, but after he coded a second time attempts to resuscitate him were stopped and he was pronounced dead at the scene."

Vince then jumped in, "I got the guy who was with him with a shot to the shoulder. The EMT's patched him up in the field and Eddie and Big Dog hauled him off none too gently," He finished with a smile. I had some good friends at the police station and it was nice to hear that they were still looking out for me.

"Who was he?" Tank asked.

Cal answered, "Tony Bertucci's cousin, Nick." He had a gun and fired off a shot, but I don't think his aim was good enough to be the one responsible for your little scratch."

I put my hand on Woody's leg thankful to have him next to me to lean on. He put his hand over mine and squeezed lightly.

Tank then took over and reported, "I'll call Ranger with a run down of what happened. He'll contact the head of the Bertucci family to see if they are going to seek revenge for what happened to Jenkins, or cut their losses. Based on what he learns we'll see what our next step needs to be."

Everyone nodded and when Tank began to walk out I assumed that meant we were dismissed as well. Bobby knelt beside me and asked if he could give me a quick exam to be sure I was alright from the stress of the evening. I assured him I was fine, but he was so insistent and Woody's eyes were pleading for me to let him, so I finally agreed and wondered, "Can we at least do it downstairs so I can relax a little?"

Woody held out a hand to me which I accepted, letting the blanket fall off my shoulders into the chair, knowing he would keep me just as warm. I wasn't prepared to hear Bobby practically scream, "Shit!" when I stood up so I nearly stumbled in my attempt to turn around causing me to bang my leg on the table which hurt like a son of a gun. "What?" I yelled back at him, upset that I'd probably bruised my leg based on how it felt.

Woody's arms went around me like steel bands. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate him holding me, but I hadn't expected him to grab me so suddenly or tighten his arms quite so much. But when my eyes went to Bobby I saw he was looking at the chair where I had been sitting and he was focused on the ivory blanket which was stained heavily with what I presumed was my blood. I shut my eyes to keep from getting dizzy, but it didn't help much. I was thankful now to have Woody's support so that I didn't make matters worse by falling over.

When I managed to get a hold on myself enough to open my eyes I realized Bobby was busy trying to convince Woody to let go of me so he could check me out. Apparently Woody was having trouble releasing me, a feeling I completely understood. I found my voice and said, "No, not here. If you have to tell me something I don't want to hear, I want it to be in the apartment downstairs so that I have some privacy."

He nodded and Woody took his cue to pick me up and carry me to the fourth floor. He bumped the sore place on my leg where I ran into the table but I didn't complain. The pain registered, but there was a sense of numbness surrounding me keeping me from reacting to it. I hoped if Bobby gave me bad news that feeling would stick around. I wasn't sure I could handle what I feared he was going to say.

Woody knew exactly what I was thinking and he whispered in my ear as the elevator door opened, "Let's not think about it until we know what's happening. I'm right beside you and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what."

I leaned my head into his chest and tightened my hold around his shoulders repeating his last promise, "No matter what."


	17. All Through the Night

_None of the characters belong to me. I am happily borrowing them from JE's genius._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) once again you have been the most valuable part of this story because of your work as the Beta. Thank you!_

**Chapter 17 – All Through the Night**

Woody sat me on the bed so gently I hardly noticed he was no longer carrying me. I was distracted with repeating, "I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry," over and over again in my head.

Bobby looked at Woody and asked, "Do you want to stay?" I was going to answer for him but Woody sat beside me on the bed, picked up my right hand to hold and replied, "Absolutely."

A curt nod from Bobby was his acceptance of that fact. He then focused his attention on me and said, "Steph I need to take a look just to verify where the blood is coming from. I know your doctor is going to ask and I need to be sure what we're up against."

I knew that was his way of asking if I could take off my pants so I just unbuttoned them and lifted my hips slightly to pull them down. The first thing I noticed when I looked down was that, while the khaki's were definitely bloody, there was nothing in the crotch of the pants. It was all to one side. I thought that was strange, but justified it by thinking that I had been sitting more on one side leaning toward Woody so it may have just run that direction.

Bobby must have seen something from his point of view because by the time I pulled them off of my ankles and threw them on the floor he was already grabbing for a pair of tweezers and an antiseptic cloth. "The good news is that you are definitely not bleeding from a miscarriage."

I couldn't help but fall back into the pillows on the bed when he said that. But then he proceeded to poke where I banged my leg on the table and pain shot through the back of my thigh. "Shit!" I sat up and grabbed the back of my leg effectively knocking Bobby's hands out of the way.

Woody's hands went to where mine were and his eyes were full of confusion and alarm. "What is it?" He asked hoping someone would clue him in to why there was so much blood on my pants if I wasn't having a miscarriage.

"She got shot, and from the look of it the bullet is still in there." Bobby explained.

I defended myself by saying, "But I didn't feel it. Until I banged my leg on the table it never hurt."

"Adrenaline and the continued movement numbed your pain sensors so that's why you probably didn't feel it. Then when the shock came on and you were cold in the truck your body was concentrating on just staying conscious so the pain didn't set in then like it normally would have. When you hit it in the conference room you were just running on fumes so you felt it, but your body didn't register how serious it was because your brain was focused a far worse possibility when we all saw the blanket."

"The blanket," I said all of a sudden getting both the guys to look at me. "Did we leave it in the conference room?" I was worried that someone would see it and assume the worst like we had.

Bobby calmed me by saying, "We did, but everyone else had already left for the day. I'll go back down when we're done here and get it so that no one worries unnecessarily."

Then he proceeded to stick a needle in my leg claiming it was to numb the area so he could get he bullet out. But I saw the size of that needle and I was convinced he did it to punish me for putting myself in harms way and nearly giving us all a heart attack because of the results.

He worked quickly and in just a few minutes I felt the tugging that I knew mean stitches were being put in. He put a dressing over it and told me to keep it dry overnight and then left some bandages for Woody to use to keep it clean for the next few days. "I'll get you a prescription for an antibiotic just to be sure everything is alright, and I'll contact your OB on Monday giving them the details for your file. You are okay to take Advil for the pain, but unless it's unbearable I don't want to give you anything stronger."

I thanked him for everything he had done for me and he smiled for a minute reaching up to run a finger along the side of my face. "Bomber, I've spent years putting people together after violence. It's nice to be on the other side welcoming life for a change." Then his tender moment was over and he added, "Now you need to rest until the morning. No more activities that will raise your heart rate, just change, get in bed and stay there until well after the sun rises."

He packed his bag up and Woody walked him out. They were gone for a few minutes and I thought I heard voices, but I couldn't make out who it was or what they were talking about. I figured I could take advantage of the opportunity to change and I put on Woody's t-shirt from earlier and a pair of sweatpants that Les had brought over for me. It wasn't sexy, but it was certainly comfortable.

Just before I climbed back into bed Bobby and Woody appeared at the door of the bedroom staring at me. "What?" I asked worried about why they had come back together.

Bobby looked down but spoke first, "Um, the guys are in the hall and they are insisting on seeing you."

"Why?" I asked confused about why they were acting so strangely.

This time Woody explained, "Apparently we were wrong about nobody going into the conference room after we left. Hector went in to set up some equipment for a presentation tomorrow and saw the blanket. He knew it had been wrapped around you and he instantly thought the same thing we did. He asked a few of the guys about it and now they're all standing out here demanding to see you."

"Why didn't you just tell them what happened?" I asked.

"I did," Bobby confessed before continuing, "And they were relieved, but now they want to see for themselves that you and the baby are alright. This life is a big deal to all of us and they just need to know it's okay."

I smiled at their thoughtfulness and love. Understanding that sometimes it was easier to accept something if you could see it with your own eyes, I walked to the door and opened it. Leaning against the wall and standing in the middle of the hall were at least a dozen guys all looking at me with worried expressions.

"We're okay," I told them. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Hector pushed his way through and pulled me to him with a sense of immediacy. He whispered softly so that no one else could hear and said, "I thought we'd failed you."

I replied at equal volume, "No one failed. I'm fine." Then I took his hand and put it on my still flat stomach and said slightly louder, "We're both fine." Hector's face showed the surprise of me letting him touch me in such an intimate way, but then his eyes shown with the joy of what he was touching and he whispered something to my stomach in Spanish before kissing my cheek and leaving with a nod to Woody.

One by one each of the guys filed past me and hugged me, then said something to my stomach while resting their hand there briefly. My favorites were Cal who told the baby to, "Rock on, little one," and Hal who surprised me by saying, "Sleep well with Angels while you grow and you bloom." When I looked at him questioning what that meant he said, "It's something my mother said each night to us kids when she put us to bed. I always liked it," He explained while he blushed and tried to shrug nonchalantly.

After everyone had a chance to speak to me and the baby they left. Bobby was the last one standing there and he too put a hand on my stomach and said, "Give your mother an easy day tomorrow. She's going through a lot to take care of you right now." Then he too nodded at Woody and made his way to the elevator.

I walked back to where Woody was leaning against the doorway and let him hug me to him. "Is it hard to watch?" I asked wondering if he was jealous about the guys touching me the way he was with Les.

"Strangely enough, no," He answered sounding surprised by his own answer. "I think our baby is going to be the luckiest kid in the world to have so many people who love it. And, I'm glad to know there are so many people watching over you too. They were really upset to think that you were hurting in the apartment and they couldn't do anything about it."

We were both tired so he pulled me into the apartment with his arm around my shoulder and led us straight down the hall to the bed. I was torn between feeling exhausted and completely wiped out after the emotional worries over the baby and wishing we could fool around a little just to feel connected to Woody.

When he pointed to the bed I obeyed and climbed in the side I slept on last night. Woody stepped in the closet and came out wearing only a pair of black boxers. Suddenly that difficult decision was feeling a little easier to make. Woody chuckled when he saw the change on my face. "I know that look." Then he turned off the light and climbed in beside me.

Not satisfied with the distance between us he pulled me over so that I was directly against him and I threw my injured leg over his and my free arm over his chest. "Much better," He sighed when my head rested on his shoulder supported by his arm under my neck. I drifted off to sleep quickly after he began to trace designs on my arm.

When I next woke up it was dark in the room and Woody was lightly snoring. He wasn't sawing logs by any stretch, but he was definitely out of it. I laid there for a moment waiting for sleep to take me again but it would not come. I did a mental inventory of what could be wrong but came up empty handed. I couldn't help but trace my finger along Woody's chest down to his rippled abs. I loved the feel of his skin. It was soft like velvet stretched over hard steel. I must have been stroking him harder than I intended to because he scared me when he spoke, "If you keep that up I'm going to have no choice but to break Bobby's specific orders about keeping your heart rate down."

I don't know what came over me but I climbed up on top of him with my legs straddling his waist and began to move my hips against his to say, "Then I'll stop rubbing you with my hand. I wouldn't want to start something that would upset Bobby."

I was secretly pleased at how quickly Woody's body reacted to mine and the rapidly growing erection pressing into me was quite a compliment. He then told me, "To hell with Bobby," and began to move against me making me wish I'd thought to get rid of my pants before I climbed on top of him. I suddenly had a craving to be as close to him as possible and I couldn't wait to feel that connection.

Picking up on my sense of urgency he rolled me off of him and removed my pants and panties in one swift motion taking care of his own as well before climbing back on top carefully holding most of weight above me.

He put a hand in my hair on the side of my face and confessed, "I thought my heart would stop beating tonight when I saw that blood. I don't know which scared me more, the thought of you being hurt or the idea of losing the baby. I know it's soon, but you are my world now Steph. You're my family and I love you."

As he spoke he moved his tip between my legs spreading the moisture between my legs so that when he finished his confession he could easily slide in. As soon as he entered me I ceased to have coherent thoughts. I was overtaken by the idea of getting as close to him as possible. Meeting him thrust for thrust and holding on to his shoulders to press my chest against his I moved with him letting our bodies communicate for our hearts.

Although it felt wonderful to feel his body moving within mine, I was more focused on the connection that existed. We were all alive and safe and the major threat to our lives had been removed. I clung to him assuring myself that even without the threat; our connection was just as real, just as relevant.

He kissed me covering my lips with his full warm ones, then using his tongue he gently pushed into my mouth and caressed my tongue with his own. He alternated between kissing me passionately and then speaking to me in a mixture of Spanish and English. He told me of how he loved me, how beautiful my body was to him, and how sexy he found me in every way. But when he told me that his heart wanted to connect with mine, I felt the change in his tempo and pressure and I knew we were both very close. Three hard thrusts later I felt the warmth from him enter my body and my own release came right behind his.

Woody rolled off of me once the aftershocks of pleasure subsided but he pulled me back into my position nestled against his side. I glanced at the clock and smiled that it was only four o'clock in the morning. I still had hours to sleep and moments later I was back in my dreams.

The next time I woke there was a faint hint of sun coming in the windows. The clock showed me that only three hours had passed since the last time my eyes were open. Once again I found his chest and abs too hard to resist so I allowed my hand to wander up and down until Woody grabbed it in his own. "Steph, you can't do that and expect me to keep my hands to myself."

Once again I took the naughty lead and climbed on top of him to announce, "And what if I don't expect you to keep your hands to yourself?"

Woody's arms had fallen over his head on the pillow when I moved. I put my hands on his which made me have to lean forward and stretch slightly in order to keep my hips were they were. He lifted his hands pushing me back slightly allowed the friction between our bodies to be more effective when I rubbed up and down his hips with my own.

He shut his eyes and entwined our fingers. "Steph…" He began but I shushed him instructing, "Don't say a word. Tell me anything you want, but don't use any words."

He nodded that he understood and I continued to move against his body quickly waking up all my hormones. If our early tryst had been about feeling connected, right now I wanted to move as one to feel that overwhelming wave of pleasure that I was now convinced only Woody could provide for my body.

He dropped my hands in order to cup my breasts. While my chest wasn't large, it did seem to fit nicely in his cupped hands and I moaned when he massaged them in just the right way to make me want to beg for more, but he never touched the most sensitive tips that probably would have set me off. Instead he tortured me with his gentle sensual touches.

As the speed of our movements increased he let his hands fall down my side, but it didn't tickle at all as they traced down my ribs and settled briefly at my hips. I felt my muscles begin to tighten and I knew I was very close. At that moment Woody's hand moved so that his fingers passed over my clit. "Oh God, Woody," I said, amazed at how his touch was affecting me.

He pulled his hand away and stilled his hips immediately after I spoke and said, "No words, remember?"

I hated being bitten by my own need to control but I nodded that I would obey the rules because I wanted his hand back on my body as soon as possible. I closed my eyes concentrating on the feel of our skin touching, the sound of our movement, and the smell of the room and our bodies. At that moment he put his hand back on my clit and rubbed it over the bundle of nerves there with just the right amount of pressure to push me over the edge. My body tightened around his and I felt him thrust once more before tensing indicating he had come too.

I fell back on top of him and his arms came around me immediately holding me in place. I thought to myself, 'this is what home feels like.' And just like that all my fears were gone. I knew I could search for a house with him and that we could turn it into a home for ourselves and our child. Before I fell asleep I said, "Now that Jenkins is gone, can we find a home together."

"You got it Darlin'," He promised pulling me closer to him and beginning the slow rubbing of my back that I knew would put me to sleep in quick order.

The next time I woke up it was Woody who was rubbing me and interrupting my dreams. He was spooned behind me and was placing small kisses on the back of my neck and shoulder while running his hand up and down my arm. It had to be the single best way to be awakened.

"I don't know if it is the best way," Woody said interrupting my thoughts. "But it is certainly one of my favorites."

"What are some of your other favorites?" I could resist asking.

"I think the wake up calls you gave me at four and seven this morning would top the list." He said with a smile.

I made my contented noise again agreeing completely with him. He interrupted my thoughts by asking, "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

"When?" I wondered what he was referring to. If I said something when we were making love I couldn't really be held accountable. I was hardly in my right mind.

"When you said you wanted to find our home," He clarified, putting a smile on my face.

"Absolutely," I assured him. "I am ready to begin a life with you."

When I said that he rolled me over and hovered above me easily. "You want a life with me?"

"Yes," I replied with my hands cupping his handsome face. Even with morning hair and stubble he was a sexy man.

He moved his right hand slightly bringing my attention to something on his index finger as he said, "Then would you consider agreeing to be my wife so that we can begin this life together in every possible way? I have loved you for a long time and would consider it the completion of all my dreams if you would say yes to be my partner in everything life gives to us."

I then noticed that his index finger was holding an engagement ring with a center solitaire, beautifully framed by two oblong diamonds on either side. It was stunning even with the tears in my eyes streaming down my face. I was speechless, but once I saw the concern on his face I realized he was misinterpreting my silence as rejection so I quickly spoke, "Yes, I'll marry you. I would love nothing more than to be your wife and partner."

He leaned forward and kissed me firmly allowing his joy and love to flow through. When he pulled back, the ring was no longer on his index finger, but was on my left ring finger instead. It was a perfect fit.

He sat up and put left his hand on my stomach indicating he wanted me to stay put. "How about I get you a little toast and we try getting you up slowly to see if you can avoid the morning sickness today. I would love it if the celebration of our engagement didn't have to include you getting sick."

I thought that sounded pretty good to me so I stretched out luxuriating in the feel of the warm bed as I found a comfortable spot and enjoyed the view of a naked Woody bending over for his clothes. He must have heard my moan because he only put on sweatpants and then winked at me before saying, "Trust me I'd rather stay here and celebrate our engagement, but I want to be sure we get a little something in your stomach before you start feeling sick."

I let him go with a sigh knowing he was right, but wishing he weren't. He came back in a few minutes later and sat a small tray with a plate of lightly buttered toast and a cup of steaming hot tea. I looked at the tray and smiled. "Let me guess, the tray was a gift from your sisters?"

"Actually, every apartment here has one so that Ella can serve us meals in bed if we get injured or are sick." He explained. I laughed at the fact that his mouth almost looked like he wanted to stick his tongue out at me but was trying to refrain and be the bigger man.

I ate a piece of toast and got him to eat the other one. I liked our little breakfast in bed picnic especially once I sat up and didn't have any of the dizziness or nausea that most other mornings had included. I accepted the pillows he put behind me in order to try to really get up slowly. After we'd talked for a few minutes and I felt like I was going to make it through the morning smoothly Woody asked how I would feel about a shower.

I knew my hair needed to be washed but I didn't want to leave his side. For some reason I wanted to be close to Woody today; perhaps it was my own way of celebrating our engagement. "I'd love a shower, but only if you join me."

I smiled when I heard the dishes on the tray rattle indicating I had surprised him with my comment. He sat it down on the end of the bed instead of taking it to the kitchen and cleaning it up. He lifted me from the bed and carried me into the bathroom sitting me on the floor in front of the shower and saying, "Oh yea, slippery when wet."

He stepped out while the water heated up and gave me a chance to use the bathroom with some privacy. Then I opened the door and stepped into the shower. It was a wonderful tile shower with a little seat in one corner. I stood under the warm water enjoying the feel of the steam. Woody appeared without a sound indicating his presence. Woody used his hands to soap my body before allowing me to do the same thing to him. I loved having an excuse to run my hands over every inch of him. When we were both rinsed off he bent me backward over his arm as though dipping me in a dance in order to rinse my hair. He ran his free hand through my curls getting it wet and working out the knots at the same time. He gently massaged the shampoo in spending extra time rubbing my scalp causing me to moan several times. Finally he rinsed out the shampoo continuing to run his fingers through my hair to get the soap and tangles out.

I felt like all the bones in my body had been melted. I wasn't entirely sure I could stand up on my own. Fortunately, it wasn't an issue since Woody kept an arm around me and kept me pressed against him while he toweled me dry. Declaring me done, he gave me the towel so that I could begin the process of drying my hair. He left his towel around his waist to catch the drops of water that slowly fell down his chest and back, just taunting me to lick them before they completed their journey.

Somehow we each managed to keep ourselves under control long enough to get dressed and ready for the day. "So, how do you want to celebrate our engagement?" He asked when I walked out of the bedroom finally pulled together.

I was just about to answer but a knock on the door interrupted me. Woody let Lester in the apartment who came in quietly asking if I was awake. "She told me to come in around nine o'clock to tell her all about my date with Marina. I gave her a little extra time just to be sure that I didn't wake her up again."

"Good, I'm ready to hear all the details," I told him from my seat on the couch. Woody came over and placed a sweet kiss on my lips then said, "I'm going to leave you two to catch up and I'll go check in with Bobby and Tank. Maybe we can head over to your parent's house and share our news with them around lunch time.

That sounded like a perfect plan so I gave him another tender kiss and smiled at the view of him as he walked away. I shook my head to clear it and then turned my attention to Lester who was sporting a Cheshire cat grin. "What's that look for?" I asked him.

He pointed to my hand, "I'm assuming the news you are going to share has something to do with that rock on your finger."

"It does." I admitted. "Woody proposed to me this morning."

"Do I get an invitation to the wedding?" He asked innocently.

"I'm sure that you will, but we haven't set anything yet. I don't know if I want to get married before the baby, or wait until after it's born so that it doesn't seem like we did it as a reaction to the pregnancy." I explained, suddenly wondering what Woody would be expecting. Most guys probably proposed and then expected a wedding to occur in short order. We definitely needed to discuss that before heading to my parent's house. We needed to have our stories straight before facing the inquisition of my mother.

"I'm assuming you're going to give me some of the details of your night." I prompted him hoping the subject change would keep me from obsessing about what Woody's expectations were.

Les took his phone off his belt and pulled up a picture that he turned around for me to see. Someone had snapped a photo of Les and Maria at the event and they looked gorgeous together. He had his arm around her back at the waist and she had a hand on his chest. Les was stunning; the tux fit him like a dream and the vest gave him an original take on the formal standard.

When I handed the camera back he looked at the picture and smiled briefly before shutting and clipping it back in its place. "She loved my get-up," He began. "As soon as she saw me she asked who dressed me. I gave you all the credit. I figured it was easier than trying to explain how you told Connie who then got the assistance of a former prostitute and a cross-dressing wanna-be rock star."

"I think you were probably smart there." I said with a laugh. I could only imagine what Marina would have thought if he had given her the full description of who had a hand in his outfit.

"She liked it and since she was wearing black, it looked good against her dress. We talked about her business and I asked her about why she owned her shop instead of designing jewelry with her Dad. Oh man, did she get worked up over that. She told me that she was never really into jewelry, but was a real clothes horse, so his business never really interested her. He tried for a few years while she was in design school but she stuck to her guns and refused. Finally he told her when she graduated, he would set her up in business and give her two years to make it or fold. If she had to fold, then he would forgive her debt to him if she would agree to come to work in the family business."

"Wow, that was a risky proposition. Two years isn't very long to start up a business and make it successful." I commented.

"You're not kidding. In fact at the two year mark she still wasn't turning a profit, but she thought she was on the edge of making it so she took out a small business loan at her bank and extended the terms with her Dad and by the end of the fourth year she was in the place where she is now and has grown each year since. She eventually paid her dad off against his will because she wanted to know she did it on her own. She's amazing. In fact, she reminds me a lot of you in how she has a single track determination to do things her way." He finished.

"How did the night end?" I couldn't help but pry.

Les looked down and I could have sworn he blushed, but it was hard to tell with his slightly darker skin. "We stayed there until midnight dancing and talking. When the party officially ended I drove her back home and walked her up to her door, but instead of kissing her or trying to figure out what to do, I stopped one step shy of the top with her and I took her hand and kissed it instead, but I held it to my mouth to make it last longer." He explained with a little apprehension about what I would say.

"That was a pretty smooth move," I told him exceptionally impressed with how he handled a potentially awkward situation.

He laughed, "I thought so. I took it from one of those damn movies you made me watch. You said girls loved it when guys did things like that and wondered why we did it so rarely. I thought I'd see if you were right."

"How did she react?" I wondered.

"She smiled and told me she had a great time and would love to do it again sometime soon." He answered.

"So…" I moved my hand around, hoping to prompt him to just talk to save me the effort of dragging it all out of him.

"So, I wondered if you thought I could call her this afternoon and see if she's free one day this week for lunch?" He asked.

I was so proud of him. He was definitely mellowing with Marina's influence. She was amazing and in many ways, was ideal for him as long as she didn't freak out over the dangerous side of his life. "That's perfect." I assured him. "Lunch as a follow up to a date like that means that you enjoyed talking to her and you want to see her again to get to know her better. If lunch goes well then you can look at another evening out, if you want to."

He leaned back next to me and rested his head on the cushion behind him. "Is it strange that I haven't made a move to sleep with her?"

I laughed at his question. "It's not your normal way of doing things, but it's not strange. I think if you enjoy spending time with Marina and want to see some more of her then this is the only way to do that."

He narrowed his eyes as though looking off into the distance and said, "Maybe, but it sure would be nice to know what was under that dress. She mentioned that this year she is rolling out her own lingerie line too and now that's all I can think about."

I put my hand on his arm and said, "You'll survive, I promise."

His hand went on top of mine and his entire demeanor changed. "Now, what is this I hear about your evening of excitement? I got back last night and saw Bobby's door was open so I went in and he was on his fifth beer. He had a little buzz going and told me about the bullet he took out of your leg and how he thought for sure you were having a miscarriage."

"Bobby needs to learn to keep his mouth shut." I said a little irritated that he would give that many details to Les.

"Bobby was convinced that he failed you by not insisting that you wait longer before putting yourself in danger. He feels a huge responsibility to be sure that your baby makes it into the RangeMan family happy and healthy. The guy's been buying text books and reading up on infant development and childbirth. He is really excited, but he's taking it personally as though if something happens it would be his fault for not being better prepared." Les explained.

"That's ridiculous!" I responded. "Everybody knows I'm a walking disaster. If he is putting the pressure on himself to keep me injury and accident free for the next nine months, then he's taking on an impossible job."

"I told him that, but I still thought you should know that he is worried about you and really feels like the guys are holding him responsible for how you and the baby are doing." Les clarified.

"Alright," I conceded, "I'll see if I can behave and make his life a little easier."

"Now we need to talk about one more thing," Lester said indicating whatever he was about to say was serious when he squeezed my hand and no smile appeared on his face.

"What is it?" I asked always interested in what he was thinking when he was solemn.

"My cousin called me this morning." He began and I knew right away he meant Ranger. "Tank talked to him last night and he called the family head he'd dealt with in the past with the Bertucci's. Apparently they are pretty upset with us for taking out Jenkins and getting Nick arrested. They believe the family has some unresolved business with you and even though they are willing to negotiate with Ranger, it has to be in person so he is coming up."

I assumed he was just warning me about Ranger's presence since I hadn't seen or talked to him since he left for Miami. It would probably be a bit awkward, but we were all adults and I figured Ranger would accept Woody's presence in my life.

Unfortunately, Lester wasn't finished talking. "Ranger doesn't know about you and Woody. And he most certainly doesn't know about the baby. I was going to tell him, but I don't think it's my place, and Tank didn't feel the need to fill him in either.

"Well, it's no big secret," I replied holding up my left hand. "When I see him I'll answer any questions he may have. When is he coming?" I asked, hoping for a few days to prepare myself.

Before Les could answer, Woody stepped in and said, "He'll be here tomorrow night."

My hand flew to my chest and I spun around from shock of having never heard Woody enter the apartment. He came to my side immediately and took my hand to kiss it apologizing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I heard your last question and Tank just got the info and passed it along to me."

"Well, at least I'm up to speed," I said slightly sarcastically.

"There's more," Woody warned.

"Good grief, who else is coming?" I asked. I was getting irritated with both of them for making me drag out the information.

"No one else is coming," Woody said pushing me forward so that he could sit behind me in the corner of the couch with me leaning against his strong body. I wiggled against him enjoying the feel of my body against his trying to get in the perfect spot. I settled down as soon as his arms went around me drawing me closer. At least I think he was drawing me closer, he may have been trying to stop my wiggling because I'm pretty sure that wasn't a pillow pressing against my back all of a sudden.

Seeing the two guys so close to me I had a feeling they were about to say something I didn't want to hear. "What else is going on? You're worried about telling me something so just spill it."

Lester spoke up first. "Ranger thinks it would be best if you weren't here when he met with the Bertucci's. He suggested a safe house somewhere out of state."

Before I could form a complete sentence about how unfair it was that I had to go run and hide Woody spoke up. "I just finished talking to Tank and we discussed the possibility of us going to my house in Virginia for a little while so that he can sort out the family's issues and you can be safely out of harms way. What would you think about that as an alternative?"

That was unexpected. I was torn between wanting to dig in my heels to stay here and my curiosity about Woody's house. I turned my head backward to look at Woody and asked, "Just the two of us? How is that safer than Haywood?" I figured it was a good point.

"My house is monitored by RangeMan security when I'm there. It's out of the way and if we left at night when Ranger was arriving it might throw the Bertucci's off our trail. Once we get there I wouldn't worry about keeping you safe. I know that land like the back of my hand and there are plenty of places for us to stay safe and undetected. Plus, we wouldn't go alone."

"Who else would go?" I wondered.

"Hector is the one I would most want to come with us. But, I think Zip and Bobby want to go too." Woody answered.

I looked at Lester and saw the slight smile on his face at the mention of Bobby's name. He was taking his responsibility to keep me and the baby safe very seriously. I knew he was a great medic, but I'd seen him in action too and knew he could kick some serious ass if necessary, so having him there might be a good idea regardless.

"Well it sounds like I have some packing to do," I replied, smiling to myself at the way both of their jaws fell open.

"You're going?" Lester asked. "Just like that?"

"Why fight it? The plan sounds good to me and after last night's disaster I'm in no hurry to put me or the baby in danger again." I told them feeling very mature in my reasoning.

Les excused himself and made me promise to see him before we left tomorrow. After the door closed I looked around at Woody who seemed very comfortable behind me. "So what comes first? Packing or a visit to see Grandma Mazur?"

Sometimes it was just too easy to make these guys nervous.


	18. Frankly My Dear

_If you recognize it, it came from JE, not me._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) I feel like you deserve a better title than Beta for all the work you have done on this story. Perhaps I should call you super-reader and get you cape. What, you seem like a superhero to me? _

**Chapter 18 – Frankly My Dear**

"Would you consider putting on a hat for me?" Woody asked with a sheepish grin on his face.

I wasn't sure why he was asking, but I was willing to play along. "That depends on what kind of hat we're talking about."

He produced a baseball cap with a University of Texas longhorn emblem on it. I took it from his hand and put it on my head after pulling my ponytail through the hole in the back.

"There's nothing in the world that doesn't look sexy on you, is there?" He asked, removing all the distance between us to pull me tightly into his arms.

I hit his shoulder softly pretending to be shocked at his question. He leaned down and kissed me making me forget what I was trying to be shocked about. When he pulled back to rest his forehead against mine and he said, "I can't believe in a matter of hours you will be sleeping in the bed in my house."

That got my interest so I asked him for some details about his house for probably the one hundredth time only to get the same answer, "You'll see for yourself when we get there."

He stepped back and pointed to the two suitcases near the door, "Are you sure that's all?"

"We're only going to be there for a few days, right?" I asked, suddenly unsure why he thought I should have more luggage.

"That's all we're planning on staying, but I want to be sure you have everything there you might need. It's important to me that you feel at home there." He confessed, looking down nervously.

"Is it possible to get to a mall within half an hour?" I asked hoping he would share at least this one small detail with me.

His face lit up and he answered, "More like forty-five minutes, but yes, it's possible to get there." A knock at the door told us it was time to leave so I picked up a suitcase and headed to the front door, where Bobby and Lester were picking on Woody wondering if they were going to have send a search and rescue mission in to get us.

Bobby snatched the bag from my hand and when I rolled my eyes at his refusal to let me carry my own bag, he said, "What? You don't need to be carrying anything heavy."

Feeling like picking on his constantly serious caregiving attitude, I responded, "That's not heavy, it's full of panties, bras and lingerie. I wanted to be ready for any possibility."

Lester and I were practically crying from laughter when Bobby dropped my suitcase and then snatched the bag Woody was holding to put as much distance as possible between himself and my unmentionables.

"Take it easy on my partner, alright?" Les said, giving me a little push to move down to the garage.

We had arranged to leave at the same time as the caravan that was going to pick up Ranger from the airport. There would also be a third set of cars that would go north to throw off anyone who was trying to follow us.

When we got in the elevator Woody said, "When the doors open walk straight to the SUV closest to us and get in the back seat. I'll throw the luggage in the back with what's already been packed and then I'll join you there."

I nodded that I understood. I obediently carried out his instruction and looked out the back window of the Explorer to see the garage full of guys, many of which were wearing ball caps. I wondered if that had anything to do with why Woody wanted me to wear one.

It took only a few minutes for all the other guys to get organized and move out. I laughed when I thought to myself that this was like a military operation. What else would I expect with my Merry Men?

I tried to be quiet and wait for Woody to tell me what was going on, but once we left town heading south and there were only two cars in our group I finally broke my self-imposed silence and asked, "What now? Are we going to lose the other car too?"

Hector spoke from his place in the driver's seat, "No, Chica, they're with us."

"I thought it was just going to be the four of us," I responded confused by who was in the other car.

"That's who will be in the house, but until Ranger calls with word on what the Bertucci's have decided to do, we've got a few more guys to keep the perimeter secure." Bobby explained.

"Who are the other guys?" I thought I saw most of my favorites getting in other vehicles for other roles in the attempt to distract anyone watching for me.

"You don't know them, they're primarily contract workers, but Bobby and I served with them in the Army and they'll do a good job." Woody said pulling me closer to him so that he could rub his hand up and down my arm.

"How will I know if they're good guys or not when I see them?" I asked thinking it was a perfectly valid question.

"You won't see them unless something's gone terribly wrong, and then you'll recognize them as the ones not pointing a gun at you." Bobby replied while smirking at his witty comment, reminding me that in addition to being a medic he was still a Ranger and perfectly capable of running the mission of keeping me safe.

I sat quietly for a few more minutes but the guys weren't talking so I didn't have anything to keep my interest in the car and it was too dark outside for me to watch things rolling past us on the highway. "How much longer?" I finally asked.

Woody laughed and answered me by saying, "Why don't you take a little nap. I'll bet if you rest for a while you'll find the trip goes faster and then you'll have the energy you need to explore the house when we get there."

Then he decided to play dirty and began running his thumb in circles on my neck so I figured it wouldn't hurt anything if I just shut my eyes for a few minutes. I mean someone had kept me awake for the better part of the night in the name of celebrating our engagement.

I let Woody move my head into his lap and sighed contentedly when he began to run his fingers through my hair. I knew he wasn't perfect, no one was, but as far as I was considered he was perfect for me.

My mother apparently agreed with me. When we showed up at their house unannounced for lunch yesterday she opened the door with a smile displaying her perfect Burg manners. But when we walked in the living room and sat down asking if we could talk to her and Dad together she sat down in the wingback chair hard as though her knees gave out and yelled, "Frank!"

My Dad came running worried about Mom's unusual tone of voice. "Helen?" He asked when he walked in and saw her sitting there staring at us. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Mom said coming to her senses and sitting back in the chair in a more lady like manner.

"Now, why did you need to speak to your father and I, dear?" She asked in her syrupy sweet voice. I noticed she was looking at my hand so her demeanor made sense to me now.

Woody took my hands in his and spoke first, "This morning I asked Stephanie if she would marry me" he looked at me encouraging me to finish telling them.

I smiled at him as I said, "And, I said yes."

My father stood up and came over to shake Woody's hand, "Congratulations, son." Before he released it he stopped moving and said in a lower voice unlike one I'd ever heard my Dad use, "And you'll remember what we talked about?"

"Sir, Yes Sir," Woody replied making me think Dad was reminding him of his threat to hurt him if Woody ever hurt me.

My Dad nodded and then released Woody's hand to step closer to me. He bent over and kissed me on the cheek whispering, "I'm happy for you Sweetheart."

My mother then stood up and went into the kitchen to bring out some champagne for everyone and some grape juice for me to toast the good news. After we toasted the future Mom began her next line of attack by asking, "Have you talked about a date?"

I panicked because we hadn't discussed when we were going to get married. I had thought about it this morning, but it hadn't crossed my mind again since I was with Lester.

Woody must have felt my unease because he answered. "We haven't discussed when we want to get married yet; we've just been celebrating the fact that we will spend the rest of our lives together." He seemed completely relaxed when he answered which made me believe him.

After a few minutes of conversation my mother tried a different tactic by casually commenting, "Stephanie, just tell me when you want me to start planning the wedding. I can get all the details worked out quickly so that you're married in time."

Woody stiffened when she said that, "In time for what?" He asked.

Mom smiled at his obvious lack of a Burg upbringing and explained, "In time to be your wife before the size of her stomach makes it obvious why you proposed."

My laid back, calm fiancée went from easy going to pissed off in less than a second. "I need to be very clear that I didn't propose to Stephanie because we're going to have a baby. I asked her to marry me because I love her. I don't care when we go through with the service. The fact that she is willing to do it after having you shove it down her throat for years with Joe is a miracle in and of itself. Blessed by the church or recognized by the state doesn't matter to me. I know from the way she accepted my proposal that she loves me and that's all the commitment I need for a lifetime. A wedding would just be a formality to satisfy everyone else."

He may have planned on saying something else, but I cut him off by pressing my lips to his and silencing him with a kiss. I'd never had someone say something that beautiful about me and my need to connect with him outweighed my usual stance against public displays of affection. When I pulled back we were both breathing heavier and my mother's jaw was practically hitting her chest.

My father saved the day by saying, "We're glad you stopped by to share your news with us. I'm sure you have a lot of other people to talk to, so we'll let you be on your way now." He then said the only thing that could snap my mother from her stupor by asking, "Helen, how about some lunch? I'm hungry for some of the leftovers from last night's roast." Dad winked at me when Mom jumped up and dashed to the kitchen to pull their midday meal together.

Dad walked us to the door and said, "Don't worry about your mother, Sweetheart. I'll take care of her and she'll accept the fact that this is your life to lead as you feel best."

We made our way back out to the SUV and Hector pulled away from the curb before I noticed the Town Car tailing us. So much for Jenkins' death meaning the end of people following me around.

By the time we got back to Haywood, my mom had left a message on my cell phone saying she wanted us to come over for dinner next week so that we could celebrate our good news with Val and her family. Woody didn't even pretend to be disappointed as I returned the call and said we'd love to do it, but because of a case we were working on we'd be out of town for a while so I'd have to call when we got back and see about scheduling something then.

After I hung up the phone Woody handed me a plate of lunch saying I needed to keep my strength up because he planned on celebrating for the rest of the day. I smiled at the fact I was now sporting some sore muscles now as evidence that Woody always keeps his promises. I was going to be one lucky woman if I could count of that kind of treatment every time we had something to celebrate.

Woody must have noticed my smile, even in the dark of the SUV because he leaned over and said, "Wait until we get to the house. I think showing you around the ranch, where I've always fantasized you'd be, is definitely something to celebrate properly."

"In that case, I better go to sleep so I can keep up with you." I teased and relaxed in his lap letting his hands lull me to sleep.

When I woke up next, I realized the truck wasn't moving so I made the mistake of sitting up abruptly to try and look out the window. Unfortunately, even though it was dark, my body didn't get that memo and my quick shift in position caused my stomach to roll and my morning sickness to return in full force. I grabbed the door handle and yanked it open just in time to take three steps and then let go of everything I'd eaten that day.

Woody was at my side in a matter of seconds and I regretted instantly not being more aware of my surroundings when I looked up and saw a set of legs standing near me that definitely didn't belong to any of the guys from RangeMan.

"Woody, is she alright?" The feminine voice that accompanied the thin legs asked.

"She will be," He replied rubbing my back gently as he always did after I got sick. "Liddy says this will pass in another couple of months."

"Oh," She said, accepting what he said a little too quickly to have really thought it through. She must have finally put the clues together because a few seconds later she said, "Ohhhhh!" In a way that most definitely meant, 'Oh my God, she's pregnant!'

I stood up glad to know that my stomach was settling down, but embarrassed about the fact that my introduction to whoever this woman was happened while I was throwing up and unable to freshen up a bit before meeting anyone.

Before anything could be said Hector interrupted and announced, "Too open here, inside."

Woody nodded his head and wrapped an arm protectively around me leading the way to the front porch of a three story white house that looked like it was once a plantation home for a wealthy land owner. I had only known Woody as the security expert in New Jersey that had a southern accent, but leading me up the stairs to his home he seemed comfortable here, he seemed at home.

The second SUV had parked a distance away and the guys from that truck were helping Bobby get the luggage from our vehicle to get us set up in the house quicker.

Woody led me straight in and asked if I wanted to go upstairs first to freshen up. I nodded that I did. I was thankful that he asked so I didn't have to explain that I needed a few minutes to get over my mortification of getting sick in front of the guys and a stranger who obviously knew Woody and his sister.

We climbed up only one flight of stairs and he led me down a long hall into a large bedroom with the most beautiful scroll bed I'd ever seen. I wasn't sure if a bed was manufactured that was larger than a king, but if there was one, this was definitely it. The bed was covered in a quilt that had browns and other earth tones blended together and at first glance, it appeared to be handmade. There was a large television hanging on the wall opposite the bed with what appeared to be every possible piece of home entertainment equipment hooked up underneath it. There was a wall of windows running down one side of the room that would overlook what I assumed was the backyard.

Woody pointed to a door to my right and I walked into the bathroom of my dreams. There was a claw-foot bathtub that was twice the size of any tub I'd ever seen in my life. Next to that was a stall shower with multiple heads, including one potent looking massager. I smiled at the thought that it would figure I would finally meet the shower massager of my dreams right after finding a man who fulfilled even better fantasies.

I walked over the vanity with two sinks and turned the water on to splash some on my face. I was impressed at how quickly the warm water was available. I usually had to wait several minutes for it in my apartment. I rinsed out my mouth, assuming that would have to be good enough just when there was a knock on the door.

I hesitated, unsure if I should invite someone in or open the door for them. Fortunately it was just Woody who didn't want to interrupt but thought I might want to know that he called ahead and asked Stella to pick up some things for me and she'd put them under the sink. I opened the cabinet door and found a little caddy that held every imaginable personal care product including my favorite shampoos and conditioners and some very expensive looking gel that I was excited to try. My usual makeup was there along with what I most needed right now…a new toothbrush and some toothpaste.

I smiled at the sight before me and Woody noticed my expression. "I hope it isn't too much. I asked her to get whatever you might need and she had me walk through the bathroom and read off everything you had at my place so that she could get the same things here to make you feel at home."

I shook my head no. "That was very sweet of you both. I hate that she went through so much trouble when I could just bring whatever I need from Trenton."

"But that's the point," He interrupted touching my cheek with his finger. "I don't want you to have to lug everything you need back and forth. I want you to have everything you need here so that you can think of it as home too. We may not get here often, but when we're here I want you to be comfortable."

I smiled again, this time at his thoughtfulness. "What was that for?" He asked touching the edge of my lips.

"I'm happy. That, plus I get to use a new toothbrush which I love to do." I told him waiting for him to pick on my silly obsession.

"What?" He asked surprised by my answer.

"Come on, you mean you've never noticed how nice a new toothbrush feels in your mouth. The bristles are still stiff and the back of the head is smooth." I tried to tell him.

He looked at me as the thought the amount of time we spent in the car had done something to scramble my brain. I felt the need to explain a little further. "When I was little I always loved getting new toothbrushes, but my mother only allowed us to have one every six months. She said that was how often the dentist said to change them and she wasn't going to waste money buying us knew ones every time we went to the drug store. My Dad heard me complain one year in December that I didn't like the way the back of my toothbrush felt because it was rough from rubbing against my teeth, but we were still three months away from new ones. That Christmas Eve before I went upstairs to get ready for bed my Dad pulled me aside and gave me a new toothbrush. It had Wonder Woman on the handle and I loved it. Ever since then he would periodically give me a new one for no reason other than the fact he knew I liked them. I guess I associate the feel of a new brush with my Dad's little gesture that he heard me and he understood."

Woody pulled me in his arms and rested his cheek on the top of my head. "I liked that story. It explains a lot."

"What, it tells you what a freak your girlfriend is for dental hygiene?" I teased unsure of what he meant.

"No," He corrected, "It tells me that my fiancée has been her Daddy's girl for a long time and it is just one more example of how you love life. You notice the little things that most of us miss and that's what makes spending time with you so special. When you notice something like that and bring it to our attention it makes us pay attention and snap out of the rut of how we view the world. The way you look at the world is much brighter and it lightens up all of us."

"Wow, you got an awful lot from a simple toothbrush story," I replied after a moment of silence where I didn't know what to say.

He chuckled and then said, "Go ahead and open your new toothbrush, I'll give you a few minutes to enjoy the moment." I would have said something sharp back in response to his wisecrack, but he backed away smiling my favorite one dimpled grin and I forgot how to speak for a moment. By the time it came back to me he was gone.

I was just rinsing the brush off when something Woody had said struck me. He said he asked Stella to get me the items under the sink. I thought back hard to our first date and tried to remember his three sister's names. Liddy and Annie I remembered right off the bat because they were nicknames for Lydia and Savannah. But, there was a middle sister who went by her name. I could have sworn that her name was Stella. What would be the chances of his sister and the wife of his ranch manager being the same person?

If they were the same person that would mean I just threw up in front of my future sister-in-law and that was how she learned I was pregnant. I couldn't believe it. Only I could get off on such a bad foot with Woody's family. We haven't even been introduced yet and I'm already showing her my lack of class.

I needed to find out if I was worrying over nothing so I dashed out of the bathroom and ran directly into Woody's broad shoulders. He caught me easily and steadied me before asking where the fire was.

"Did you say Stella got me the toothbrush?" I asked.

He nodded that I was right.

"Stella, as in your sister?" I asked praying he would smile and say 'same name different person.'

Unfortunately he nodded and said, "That's right Darlin', they are one and the same."

I stumbled over and sat down on a little bench at the foot of the bed. Woody sat next to me asking if I was alright, or if I needed him to call Bobby.

"No," I quickly answered. "I think embarrassing myself in front of one person a day is more than enough."

That made him laugh a little, "It's true she didn't know you were pregnant and that's my fault. I assumed Liddy had opened her mouth and told her all about it after my call so I didn't think I needed to say anything. Obviously for once in her life my oldest sister decided to respect my privacy and let me share my good news in my own time." He rubbed my hands as he spoke.

"Stella is understanding, don't worry about being embarrassed. She's laid back and gentle and she's great with animals. When I bought this place a few years back, she asked how I was going to take care of it when I was in Trenton. She and my parents hadn't been getting along as well for a while so I teased her and said there was a keeper's house on the property that she and Robert, her husband, should come and live there and do it for me. Robert was a large animal vet and Stella was his assistant back in Texas. I only said it as a half-hearted offer to shut her up but she called me back a few days later and asked if I was serious. I thought it through quickly and realized it could be good for everybody so I told her I was. Robert set up an animal clinic about ten miles away that is open two days a week. He makes house calls to some of the farms in the area and the rest of the time he and Stella are here. I can't imagine this place without them."

That answered so many of my question that I originally had about how he managed to pay for a full time keeper. I assumed they lived here rent free in return for the work they did around the ranch. And I assumed that the money Robert made as a vet covered their living expenses. I wondered what happened between Stella and Woody's parents that made her want to move thousands of miles away. Woody must have noticed the question stirring in my brain and decided to answer my unspoken question.

"When I refused to end my contract with the government and continued to go on high risk missions my parents had a fit. Stella was the one that stood up for me to my father. She told him I was a grown man who had obviously chosen a life that made me happy and that he should stop trying to challenge the decisions I made about my career and just accept my life the way it is, not the way he wants it to be. Mom accused her of being foolish and things were strained from that point forward. Standing up to my father isn't easy to do, and ever since then I've looked at Stella, who I always considered the quiet one, as my favorite of the three sisters." He answered the unasked question much to my surprise.

I leaned over and kissed him gently. When I pulled back he smiled and asked, "What was that for?"

"For sharing something about yourself with me. When you do that it makes me feel like you really want me to know you and that you want me to be a part of every aspect of your life." I explained, knowing it didn't fully express the way I felt.

He pulled me to him briefly and then asked, "Now, do you want to just climb into bed, or would you like to officially meet Stella and Robert?"

Ideally I would have preferred a third option of hiding in the room, not to come out until everyone had forgotten my arrival, but knowing that kind of introductory scene would most likely be permanently burned into everyone's memories I decided there was no time like the present. Besides, if she seemed to hate me I could always go with my back-up plan and hide away for the rest of our time here. If nothing else, that shower was sounding pretty good to me as an entertainment option.

As we descended the stairs I heard voices below speaking in Spanish. One was female and the other two were markedly male. I thought I recognized one as Hector, but I couldn't imagine him knowing Woody's family so I quickened my steps to figure out who I heard.

"Relax," Woody whispered in my ear just as we hit the bottom floor.

He pulled me down the hall and into a large open kitchen where Stella, Hector, Bobby and a man I didn't recognize were all seated on stools around a big island in the center of the cooking area. Bobby was the first one to see me and quickly made his way over to my side picking up my free hand and putting his fingers on my wrist to check my pulse.

I was about to object that I was fine, but he shot me a look and I remember Lester's comment to take it easy on him so I let it slide and patiently waited for his nod to confirm what I already knew. I put my hand on Bobby's cheek and said, "I'm not going to break. I know it's hard to see, but it doesn't mean anything is wrong, my body just isn't used to this yet."

"I know, but you've got to take it easy, at least for what's left of tonight," He replied looking at Woody with a threatening expression when he said the last part.

Woody's raised his hands in mock surrender making Bobby smile and walk back over to his seat. Woody took my hand back in his and led me over to the side of the bar where Stella and the man I didn't know were seated. "Steph, I want you to meet my sister Stella and her husband Robert." Then he looked at them, put his arms around my waist from behind me so that his hands met over my stomach. "Rob, Stella, this is my Stephanie."

Stella smiled and her face displayed a single dimple giving me hope that if it was an inherited trait that our baby might have as well. I would guess her to be in her mid-forties with lines around her eyes and mouth that meant she spent a lot of time smiling. Her skin was slightly darker in tone indicating she spent more time in the sun. Her dark brown hair was short and feathered away from her face in a casual, windblown looking style. There was a kindness in her eyes that drew me to her making me like her immediately. She reached out her hand and took mine between both of hers softly rubbing them together. "I'm so glad you're here and that I'm the first one to meet you. My meddling sisters will be so jealous."

"I'm glad to meet you too," I responded; glad to have the pleasantries out of the way easily enough. "I'm so sorry about earlier when we first arrived. I still haven't learned to get up slowly when I've been asleep."

She interrupted and told me, "Oh don't worry about that. We'll have one of the boys wash it away with buckets of soapy water and it will be done with. I'm just so excited about what it means."

Robert was watching his wife, clearly confused about what we were talking about. I couldn't imagine being in a family that didn't constantly gossip and tell everyone's secrets. Woody must have noticed the same thing I did because he said, "Rob, I didn't realize Stella didn't tell you. Steph and I are going to have a baby. We've just found out that she's pregnant and the morning sickness has been a bit overwhelming so we're trying everything we can to help control it." As he talked, Woody left one hand flat on my stomach in a comforting gesture. His other hand moved up to my neck and began to rub slowly. Had I been a cat I certainly would have been purring.

We stood around for a while talking, but the fact that it was the early hours of the morning began to catch up with several of us and the yawns started to interrupt our conversations, so we decided to turn in for what was left of the night. Bobby came over and put a hand on my stomach and told me to sleep late and maybe let Woody bring me some toast and tea before I got up to see if it helped. I thanked him and told him not to worry.

Hector came over and held his hand up as though he wanted to touch my stomach again as he had the other night at Haywood, but he wasn't sure I would allow it. I quickly took his hand in mine and pressed it against my still flat belly. The smile that lit up his face was more than worth it. I knew very little of Hector's life other than the fact his skills had been learned on the street and life had not been kind to him. It was rare to see such emotion on his face with the tears permanently marking it. He leaned over and said something in Spanish to my stomach before rubbing it briefly and turning to leave.

I turned and saw Woody watching me with such warmth and love on his face. He asked if I was tired and I nodded because it was true. He moved closer and I felt my body react to the way he looked at me as though I was the most important person in the world.

I put my hand flat on his chest and he began to move in closer to me, but jumped when Stella cleared her throat and said, "I put Hector upstairs and Bobby in the guest room on this floor. The kitchen is stocked just like you asked and we'll be at home most of the afternoon tomorrow after we make our rounds in the morning."

"Stephanie, I hope you sleep well and if there is anything at all that you need, just let me know and I'll be sure you have it." She paused briefly before adding, "But after seeing you with little Woody here I have a feeling you'll be well taken care of."

She touched my shoulder sweetly and then kissed her brother on the cheek. When she and Rob left, Woody surprised me by sweeping my legs out from underneath me and carrying me upstairs in a very Gone With the Wind gesture. I heard his boot connect with the door of our bedroom to slam it closed and suddenly I didn't feel so sleepy anymore. As far as I knew we had nothing to do tomorrow. Our basic plan was to just stay here until we got the call that everything was clear to return. It wouldn't matter if we stayed up for a while and then slept in later tomorrow.

With that thought I held onto his hand when laid me on the bed and tried to stand back up. "We don't have to go to sleep just yet," I told him in what I hoped was a sexy voice. The expression on his face told me I'd succeeded in getting my point across.

"It would be a shame to sleep in a new bed without fully testing it out, wouldn't it?" He countered while toeing off his boots.

As he covered my body with his I gave myself to him and realized any similarities with the old movie were over. I most certainly did give a damn and from the feel of what was being pressed against me, so did he.

_A/N: I appreciate all of the notes asking if I was alright due to my long silence from posting. I began a new job on Monday which is great for my career but has eliminated my ability to write during the day so I am down to just grabbing moments at home to weave my stories. I will most certainly continue to write, but I will not be able to post daily. Hopefully once I get settled at work I can get into a dependable routine so that we can enjoy some great adventures together! _


	19. Somebody's Watching You

_None of the characters are mine. JE gets the credit for doing all the real work._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan), you've done another bang up job as the Beta on this story. Thank you!_

**Chapter 19 – Somebody's Watching You**

When I woke up the next morning the sun was pouring in the windows of the bedroom. I was wrapped up with soft cotton sheets that smelled divine. I didn't want to get up, but my bladder had other idea. I tried to work out how to accomplish both rising slowly to ease my stomach into the day and getting to the toilet in time to avoid creating an embarrassing situation.

I sat up against my pillow and was pleased that the walls stayed where they belonged. I threw back the covers and smiled at the fact I was completely naked. I thought back to how I had spent the night with Woody, breaking in the bed and my smile turned into a full blown grin. I wasn't the least bit surprised when my legs felt sore when I moved them to get ready to stand up.

Just as I began to slowly move I heard three soft taps on the bedroom door. I assumed they were from Woody who I didn't see in the room so I didn't bother to say anything knowing he would let himself in. What I wasn't prepared for was the door to open and see Bobby standing there with a tray on his arm. When I realized he was looking at me much like a deer caught in headlights I jumped up and literally ran into the bathroom.

It wasn't until the door closed behind me that I realized Woody was in the shower. Just as I was about to apologize for barging in my stomach caught up with the fact that I had jumped up and somehow managed to top the embarrassment of throwing up first thing upon arrival here last night by letting one of my friends see me completely naked. I just barely made it to the toilet in time to lose everything that was still in my stomach after last night's episode.

Of course Woody heard me and instantly shut off the water, wrapped himself in a towel and assumed his position behind me slowly rubbing my back. "I'm sorry you got up so quickly," He said when it seemed that I was finished. "I asked Bobby to bring up some tea and toast so that you could get something in your stomach first to avoid this."

"I know," I told him taking a deep breath and trying to wait for my stomach to admit that it was alright.

"Did you hear me call him?" Woody asked, confused by my response.

"No," I answered leaning into him for support. "I was getting up to use the bathroom and just as I stretched out and pulled the covers completely back Bobby came through the door carrying a tray and saw me completely naked."

Woody's hand instantly stilled and he squeezed my shoulder a little too tightly to be comforting. "Why don't you freshen up and I'll step out there and see if Brown is still there."

I took care of my other pressing need and then made my way to the sink to brush my teeth. I was standing there trying to decide what to do when I heard male voices coming from the bedroom. Not wanting to intrude I decided to listen right next to the door so that they wouldn't stop talking.

I heard Woody's voice first. "What were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking?" Bobby repeated. "I was doing what you asked because you assured me she was still sleeping. But while we're on the subject, what were you thinking?"

"Me?" Woody asked a little defensively.

"Yes you," Bobby countered a little louder making it much easier for me to eavesdrop. "I thought I said that she should come to bed to rest. From the look of her body there are enough marks and hickeys on her to mean you kept her awake for hours. You know she'd feel better if you would leave her alone."

"You need to let this go, Brown. I'm willing to forget that you saw my woman with no clothes on because it was an accident. But if you want to make a point of describing how much time you spent staring at her skin then we need to have an entirely different discussion." Woody's volume was definitely growing in response to Bobby's.

"I wasn't staring at her man, it couldn't have been move obvious because of how pale the rest of her skin is." Bobby countered with what I knew was the wrong thing to say. I quickly looked around for something to put on and found Wood's t-shirt that he had brought in to wear after his shower. I slipped it over my head and stepped out just in time to see Woody in his towel clad glory slowly walking to Bobby.

"I'm going to give you five seconds to tell me why you felt the need to comment on the color of her skin when she had on no clothes." Woody said through clenched teeth.

Woody was clearly gearing up for a fight and I had to stifle a laugh at his attire. It made me want to tell Bobby to watch out before the Gladiator got mad. I shook my head to clear that thought and walked between the two guys. I couldn't help but notice this was not the first time I'd put myself between Woody and one of the guys when things got heated because of me.

"Woody, I think Bobby just meant because of how worn down I am that I'm more pale than usual and since he thinks some rest might help to restore me he wanted to imply that I would gather more color if I would heed his advice and get some." I knew that it was a round about sentence but I had to say something fast and I didn't have time to prepare a better speech.

Bobby agreed that I had summed up his intent perfectly. Then he added, "Stephanie, I'm so sorry about walking in this morning. I should have left the tray or opened the door and announced myself first. It won't happen again. I'm so sorry." He was rambling out of embarrassment so felt the need to let him off the hook.

"Bobby, it's fine," I told him putting a hand on his arm to assure him. "It was an accident and I bear just as much of the blame. I should have left the covers on me until I was ready to get up. You have nothing to apologize for."

Woody was about to disagree with me but I put my other hand on his arm and shook my head. Luckily he let me silence him so that Bobby could leave while they were still on speaking terms.

When the door closed I walked over the tray and picked up a piece of toast taking a bite and waiting for Woody to disagree with what I said.

I wasn't surprised when he said, "Steph, he shouldn't have walked in our bedroom unannounced."

"Why?" I countered. "Did you tell him I was awake and naked?"

"No, I told him you were asleep and I figured you'd still be out for a while." He agreed, not even realizing the trap he'd just backed into.

"Exactly, and since he believed what you told him he did nothing wrong. After all, if I'd slept through his delivery as you thought I would, then you would have been grateful that he brought it in and left it, right?"

Seeing I had him, he hung his head and admitted defeat. "Right, but I still don't like that he saw you. There are things I want to be the only person to see."

I closed the distance between us and put my arms around his still wet torso to say, "There are things that only you are allowed to see. Trust me, when I realized what was happening I ran into the privacy of the bathroom. Poor Bobby only saw enough to know I was naked, but not enough to need to be charged for admission."

Woody laughed at my attempt at a joke and wrapped his arms around me effectively wetting his shirt. "Are you up to stay or would you like to rest some more?" He asked before pressing his lips into my hair.

"I'm up," I said a little surprised at the answer myself. "But I'll probably want to take a nap later today." That would most like appease Bobby.

Woody suggested I try a bath and once he planted the suggestion I couldn't think of anything else. The warm water sounded like a good idea to get rid of the soreness in my muscles.

I slid into the warm scented water of the bath Woody drew for me and couldn't help the moan that escaped from my lips. This was heaven.

Woody came in a few minutes later wearing a pair of boot cut jeans that were well worn and frayed at the bottom. He didn't have a shirt on so his perfect chest was still on display, and of course, he hadn't put on socks yet so his bare feet were sticking out at the bottom.

I was torn between which one was more worthy of a moan, the bath or Woody. Woody bent over sticking his denim framed rump in the air for me to admire while he retrieved something from under the sink. At least now I new his body was definitely more drool worthy. Thank goodness I could pass along the moisture on my chin as being from the bath.

I watched him shave, fascinated by the comfort level between us in this routine domestic scene. For a person that had blanched at the idea of having to share my life with someone, I had settled into things smoothly with Woody. Maybe it wasn't me, it was just that I'd never pictured forever with the right guy before.

Woody smiled as that thought passed my mind and caught my eye as I stared at him in the mirror. "I feel the same way Darlin'. Marriage never seemed like a good idea until I pictured it with you." He wiped the vanity top before turning around and saying. "My sisters were probably right, that I would have been single forever if you hadn't agreed to give me a chance. Once I met you, that was it for me, I was hooked." He confessed sitting on the edge of the tub.

We talked with him perched there until the water began to feel cool and then I asked if I could have a tour of his place today. "My pleasure," He agreed, "But you need to start referring to it as our place. It's not just mine anymore."

He grabbed a huge bath towel and held it up for me to stand up and wrap myself in. It was plush and warm and I was beginning to think everything about this place was based on luxury and comfort. So much for the idea in my head that this would be a rustic man centered ranch with little thought into the things a woman would enjoy.

After we got dressed he took my hand and we walked downstairs. Next we went out the back door onto the large covered back porch that had ceiling fans outside. I pointed at them and the question must have registered on my face because Woody chuckled and answered, "It makes it more pleasant when it's hot and it gets buggy, especially in the summer."

That explanation made perfect sense so I followed him as he walked off the porch and toward a barn that was a few hundred feet away. I couldn't help but notice his walk was slower and more relaxed here. The plaid shirt he was wearing was a western cut with snaps instead of buttons. I was having trouble concentrating on looking around when all I could think of was ripping the shirt open when we got back upstairs. I wouldn't have to worry about ruining the shirt by tearing off the buttons.

Woody noticed I was lagging behind and asked, "Are you feeling okay? Am I going too fast? Is everything alright?"

I held up a hand to stop him from firing questions at me. "I'm fine, I just got distracted. You're so much more relaxed here than when you're in Trenton, I like it." I decided to toy with him a little and added, "Relaxed Woody is really sexy and I'm having trouble concentrating on anything else."

I didn't have time to blink before Woody had pulled me to him and his lips were on mine. We stood there in the middle of a grassy area making out like a couple of desperate teenagers. It wasn't until Stella cleared her throat behind us that we reluctantly broke apart.

"I was going to see if you wanted me to saddle up the horses for you, but I'm not entirely sure that's what you want to ride now." She said with a wink.

I blushed and put my head down just as Bobby walked up from the other side and put in his two cents worth. "Stephanie can't ride horses. Am I the only one reading up on this shit? It could cause a placental abruption and miscarriage. You can't put her on a horse."

Woody took a deep breath and I saw the tension building in his shoulders. "I wasn't going to let her ride, but I did want to show the horses to her, if that's alright with you."

The sarcasm was dripping from his voice but Bobby seemed to ignore it and responded, "Only if she isn't close enough that there is a risk of her being kicked. We have to avoid any kind of situation that has a possibility of a trauma."

"You have met me haven't you?" I asked Bobby hoping to diffuse the situation before we had a recreation of the shootout at the OK Corral. "My normal life is one possibility of trauma after another. I think I'm safer here than anywhere."

Everyone laughed at my statement knowing it was true, but as I said it I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Not in the tingly 'Ranger is near' way, but in an 'I'm being watched by someone creepy' manner.

I looked around squinting my eyes in an attempt to see further but only saw the rolling hills of the pasture and the forest beyond that. Woody and Bobby both noticed my change and sandwiched me between them immediately.

"What is it, Steph?" Woody asked.

"I don't know, maybe nothing," I replied unsure of how to explain it. "I just had a feeling that I was being watched, but that would be ridiculous here, right?"

Bobby hesitated, considering my words but then said, "Maybe it was one of the contract wokers. They're stationed at the edge of the property so there maybe someone in the woods or just beyond the fence line."

"That has to be it. I guess all this Bertucci mess has gotten me paranoid," I accepted his suggestion of why I felt off and decided to change the subject. "Now, I believe you promised to show me your horses."

Woody took my hand and the four of us went to the barn where I was able to meet all four of the horses Woody kept here. He introduced me to them and let me feed them grain or fruit from my hand. Their stalls were open to the pasture so that they could come and go as they pleased. Woody was at home showing them to me and the love between him and his animals was evident on his face. I loved seeing it because I knew there would soon be an expression similar to that when he held our baby in his arms.

We were in the barn over an hour when Bobby's phone rang. "Brown," He answered in terse RangeMan style. I should have been impressed it wasn't "Yo."

He listened and after only seconds his blank faced slammed into place. The longer he went without speaking the more nervous I became. Woody walked over and put his arms around me from behind calming me and offering me the support I needed.

Eventually Bobby hung up, but I don't remember him saying anything else during the phone call."

"Well?" Woody asked when Bobby returned his phone to his belt.

"Ranger," He began. I leaned against Woody suddenly feeling like I needed more help in holding up my weight.

"He said the Bertucci family isn't officially holding a grudge against Stephanie, but Tony is. His father told him to let it go and count his lucky stars that we only took out Jenkins, but Walter and Tony were childhood friends and he sees this as personal. Apparently Tony left town yesterday and no one has seen him since." Bobby explained what he had heard.

"What were our instructions?" Woody asked.

"Ranger wants us to sit tight. He doubts Tony has any idea where Steph really is and to try and sneak her back in might be more dangerous than keeping her hidden here. He advised us not to take any unnecessary risks in going out though." Bobby finished.

"So his advice is to just sit here for an indefinite amount of time waiting to see if Tony Bertucci is going to find me?" I asked to be sure I understood.

"At least for right now. Ranger has a team tracking Tony to find him and take him down. He promised the Family we wouldn't kill him if it could be avoided, but he did say that if Tony tried to hurt you that would be considered just cause for taking him out." Bobby added.

"Are you alright Stephanie?" Stella asked. I had forgotten that she was with us since she had been so quiet while we were in the barn. "You look pale all of sudden. Have these guys thought to even feed you lunch?"

I shook my head, articulating that I hadn't eaten since the bite of toast when I first got up, but I knew that the sudden change in color on my face had nothing to do with my lack of eating. "I think I need that nap we talked about this morning," I said quietly to Woody. He nodded that he understood but we both knew I wasn't suddenly tired from my time in the barn with the horses.

I went in and went straight upstairs without thinking about how rude it must be to leave everyone else downstairs with no explanation. I was mad that this mess just didn't seem to want to go away. I was enjoying my time here where I could pretend that I was just here for a visit, but knowing that it was becoming more and more like a safe house made it feel more like a jail than a home and I hated Tony Bertucci more and more for ruining my escape here.

I stretched out on the bed and felt some of my bad mood dissipate as the soft pillow touched my face. I took a few deep breaths and willed myself to put a positive spin on my situation. I knew if I didn't I would turn into a whiny bitch and no one needed to be exposed to that. Having made up my mind to try not to let this get to me I was surprised when the door opened and Woody came in with a large bowl of something steaming and a couple of water bottles under his arm.

I sat up slowly and realized the bowl held an enormous amount of potato soup that had been topped with cheese, bacon and chives. It looked and smelled wonderful, but my eyes much have shown my shock at the size of the serving. Woody chuckled and warned me, "I couldn't carry two bowls so I just made us lunch in one big one to share."

I smiled with relief knowing that he was planning on eating some too. Taking my cue from him I picked up one of the spoons in the bowl and took a bite. The flavor exploded in my mouth and I realized I was hungry and this was the perfect meal for me. Woody pushed a stray curl away from my face when I dug in for another bite.

"This is so good," I told him around my third bite.

"Stella is a great cook and she loves having people to dote on. Having this many guys here to feed is like heaven to her." Woody explained, helping himself to more soup which encouraged me to eat a little more too.

We ate in companionable silence until there was a knock at the door. Woody gave me the bowl to hold and got up to let Bobby and Hector in the room. I was so glad to see Hector. He had been using his talent for disappearing like smoke since we arrived and I'd missed him.

Hector walked right over to my side and was about to sit on the floor but I moved over and patted the bed by my side insisting he sit beside me. He obeyed, although he looked a little stiff and uncomfortable with one foot still on the floor and the other leg bent at the knee to keep his boot off the comforter. I looked at him and shook my head. I knew Bobby and Woody were both watching us but I didn't care, Hector had often risked his life for me and I never wanted him to be uncomfortable when I was around.

I linked my arm around his at the elbow and rested my head on his shoulder. When he turned his head to see what I was doing I looked up at him and smiled before telling him, "I've missed seeing you and I want you right beside me."

He looked pleased, but confused when he asked, "Why?"

My lips pursed while I considered his question and then I told him, "Because you make me feel safe and you always take my craziness in stride."

Hector chuckled softly and I hoped he was about to say something funny because he rarely laughed. "Chica, you make me feel normal."

I tightened my hold on his arm and informed him, "Hector you aren't normal, you are so much better than that" With that Hector moved his arm from mine and then put it around my shoulder to pull me closer to his side. I looked at Woody who had a curious expression on his face. It wasn't jealousy or aggression like I'd seen when he was with Lester or Bobby. I'd have to ask him about it later because Bobby took that moment to speak up.

"We got a call from Tank." He informed us.

I tried to sit us but Hector shook his head no and kept me at his side. He then put his free hand on my stomach and left it still except for his thumb rubbing up and down in a slow comforting way.

"Bertucci defiantly left town and from what they can gather he went south, but we don't know where. We can't be sure that he knows where we are, but we need to be prepared in case he does." Bobby explained.

Woody had sat down at the bench at the foot of the bed and his head jerked up at the last phrase said aloud. "They're not getting to us here."

Hector then asked, "What do you got here to keep her safe?"

"Standard stuff," Woody began slowly. "Bullet proof windows, steel doors, security zones that allow me to shut off parts of the house, a panic room in the basement that can only be opened by me or a single designated person from the inside. There is also a panic room under the horses' stable and a cave about a mile north across the pasture that has a secure bunker built into it at the back. I've got a separate room in the basement equipped as a communication hub and armory. I have barbed wire and electric fencing along the parameter of the property along with movement scanners that are set to be activated by anything on two legs weighing more than a hundred pounds" As he continued to talk he became more animated and spoke faster.

Bobby and Hector began to smile when he said, "There is a bullet proof all terrain vehicle in the garage that can handle the rocks at the back of the pasture, and two of the horses are battle trained and won't spook at the sound of gunfire."

"Geez, Woody, I thought this was a place you came to relax," I interrupted getting me indulgent smiles from all the three guys.

"Exactly," He agreed before adding, "And for me to relax here I needed to know it was secure and safe. I knew I wanted to bring you here too so I might have gone slightly overboard by your standards, but I needed to be sure I could protect you if the need ever arose."

I couldn't exactly disagree with him with us in the middle of such a mess so I decided to go with a simple, "Thank you," instead.

He reached over and grabbed one of my feet to gently squeeze it reassuringly. "Like I said, they aren't going to get to you here."

Then he addressed the other two guys and said, "There some extra measures we can put into place to help the guys at the perimeter so if you want, we can slip out and spend a little time setting things up."

The look of excitement on their faces made me laugh at the image of what they must have looked like as kids at Christmas. "You go do what you need to. I'll be here, taking a nap in my bullet proof room."

Bobby was pleased with my answer that I would volunteer to take a nap so he came over and kissed my head before walking out. Hector gave me one more squeeze before standing up and following him out.

Woody waited until the door closed behind them and then came over to where I was still leaning on the pillows against the headboard. He knelt on the floor before me and said, "I swear I wanted this to be a home, not a prison for you. Did listening to that ruin the effect?"

I thought about what he was saying and told him my conclusion. "No, it makes me realize the ends you will go to in order to protect me," I placed my hand over my stomach and corrected myself, "to protect us. It's a home because you're here." I put my hand against his cheek and watched as his eyes closed and he let out a long slow breath.

"Now, go play with your friends and do whatever needs to be done to keep us safe so that no one ever takes away the feeling of security we have here." I instructed him. He placed a gentle lingering kiss on my lips. His hands rose to caress the back of my neck and rested there lightly as he pulled his face from mine. I looked at his eyes and regretting telling him to leave.

"I could stay if you want me to. They guys can figure out what to do without me." He offered as if he knew what I was thinking. I wanted him to stay; a piece of me was convinced that I needed him to stay. But, down deep I knew that he needed to be involved with whatever was being done to keep Bertucci from finding us.

I didn't answer him directly. I leaned into him and pressed a kiss against his mouth pulling back only enough to run my tongue over his lips and then leaving only enough distance between us to whisper I said, "They can probably finish everything in half the time if you are there. Go now, and come back that much faster." His fingers tightened marginally on the back on my neck telling me he liked what I was implying.

Just before Woody reached the door I said his name and added, "Be sure to say goodnight to everyone before you come back up." There was no doubt in his mind what I was telling him. I was only letting him leave now if there was the promise he would return to spend the better part of the evening in bed with me. He tipped his head a fraction, gave me my favorite smile and said, "Yes ma'am."

I collapsed against the pillows suddenly feeling very sleepy and smiling at the thought that I wasn't nearly as tired as I hoped to be in a few hours.

Being a man of his word he returned three hours later just as I was getting up from a great nap and I enjoyed our time together until exhaustion forced us both to sleep.

The sun was just beginning to rise at the horizon when Woody sat up suddenly in bed waking me. "Steph, you need to get up and go to the bathroom." He told me. I was confused and still groggy from such an abrupt end to my rest but I did as instructed. I had to assume something was wrong. He was suggesting I get up now which meant he knew I would probably get sick and would need a few minutes to regroup. I would need to talk to him at some point about better ways of waking me if he wanted a sudden start to the day.

Sure enough once I stood up and took three steps, my pace quickened and I dashed the rest of the way to begin the day with my typical greeting to the sun in front of the toilet. I was impressed that I seemed to feel better almost as soon as I was finished so I made my way to the sink and brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face to finish waking me. I was just beginning to contemplate a shower or a bath when Woody came in fully dressed and sporting an expression that I found unreadable. He handed me some clothes and said, "Go ahead and slip these on as quickly as you can." He produced a ball cap and offered it, I assume, to hasten the amount of time I would need to get ready.

I was trying to be patient but being rushed without any explanation was no longer sitting well with me so when he turned to walk out I finally snapped and asked, "Are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to keep guessing?" As a softening gesture of peace I began to pull on the clothes he brought in to show I was cooperating.

Woody stopped immediately and turned back to face me, "I'm sorry Steph, I thought you heard the alarm indicating someone was at the perimeter trying to breech it. I needed you to get up so that I could move you to the basement for now while the guys get out to where the alarm went off and scope it out."

That was all I needed to know. Someone was here and I didn't want to stick around and wait for an invitation to meet them. I was dressed and out the door in less than three minutes. Of course that meant I had on no make-up and my hair was basically shoved up under Woody's cap, but I was ready to move which was a record for a Jersey girl.

Woody guided me through the kitchen to the back of the pantry. I had seen the basement during the grand tour the day before and I definitely hadn't accessed it this way. I decided to try and be silent for once and followed him down a dark set of stairs to a wall that even from a distance was obviously some sort of impenetrable metal.

He took my hand and placed it on the scanner on the outside of the door and I heard a series of clicking indicating that it was unlocking before it swung open. "Your palm and mine are the only two that will unlock this door now." He explained before indicating I should go in.

Hector came downstairs a few seconds later and locked eyes with Woody. Neither of them spoke but there was a brief period of silence where I assumed they were communicating before Hector hugged me, touched my belly and then jogged back out.

Woody then moved over to a control center beside the door and began flipping switches. I looked around and found myself in a large room, sparsely furnished with a door to one side that I hoped was a bathroom, and a small kitchenette built into a wall making this a multipurpose space where one could stay for an extended period if necessary.

When he was satisfied with everything he saw on the various monitors he turned to me and began rapidly explaining what I was seeing. "Here are the six primary monitors for the perimeter and the communication frequency is monitored here," He explained picking up a headset. He also showed me how to switch between views to see around the house or in it as well as at various places on the property. He also showed me how to open the door and activate the locks and seal so that the door could not be blasted open.

The he pointed to a closet door and said, "Put your hand on the safe scanner behind that door and it will open to a small weapon's safe should you need something. Everything that is stored is loaded, so if you pull something out you are ready to use it."

But my heart sank when he added his last instruction, "You don't open this door for anyone other than me, Hector or Bobby. You don't know the contract workers so even if someone identifies themselves in that way don't open the door for them."

"You're not staying?" I asked failing to keep the panic from my voice.

Woody ran a finger down my jaw and answered, "No Darlin', I'm going out there to stop the bastards that think they can hurt my family. This is our property and no one will get to you as long as I'm here. As strange as it sounds, just try to relax and you can watch here to see what's going on."

I knew there was no point in trying to talk him out of leaving, and I knew he'd never allow me to go with him so I tried to bravely square my shoulders and accept how things needed to be. "Be careful," I advised him hearing the concern saturating in my voice.

Woody pulled me to him one last time, removed my cap, and placed a kiss on my head before promising to return. "I'll be back to get you out of here." I nodded that I'd heard him and then shivered when he released me and walked out. I don't know if my sudden chill was from the lack of his body against mine or the sound of the metal locking bars sliding into place separating me from the man I knew I loved most in this world.


	20. Uh Oh!

_None of the characters belong to me, I shamelessly borrow them from JE._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thanks so much for sticking with me as the Beta to this story. You're the best!_

**Chapter 20 – Uh Oh!**

I swallowed hard again the panic rising in my throat when the sound of the locks ceased and I knew I was stuck in this room with Woody and our friends out there risking their lives to keep me safe. There was a big part of me that wanted to put my hand back on the scanner, unlock the door and try to be helpful in capturing the threat. There was a time that I definitely would have done that very thing, but I knew I couldn't do it now. It wasn't just about me anymore. I had a baby, Woody's baby, to keep safe and I needed to stay here to protect it from harm.

Proud of my mature take on the situation I sat down in the desk chair in front of the monitors and began to flip through the various views hoping I couple pick up on something to know what was happening and ease my worry. I found it hard to see much because it was still dark and the cameras had some night vision lighting, but they were not as clear as I needed them to be to make out everything.

I remembered the earphones and put those on too knowing I wouldn't hear anything because the guys were masters at silent communication. Still, I apparently had the ability to send them information since there was a vocal mic on my unit that I could turn on as well. Maybe if I saw something I could alert the guys. I put my hand on my stomach and whispered, "Don't worry; your Daddy will be back soon. He's keeping us safe right now."

I looked down at the gesture that I performed without thought. I guess every mother did the same thing but it surprised me how natural it felt to want to protect and nurture this tiny life inside me. I usually felt faint when I considered motherhood but it seemed natural now. I'd have to think on that some more at a less stressful time.

I continued to flip through the various surveillance views like I was channel surfing on cable. Hopeful I could find something worth while but I was clicking through without much hope of succeeding. I caught movement every so often, but it was usually one of our guys. It seemed the contract workers were wearing all black but they had the RangeMan logo on their vest so I was able to identify them as well.

After a couple of hours I began to get sleepy. There wasn't much going on to keep my interest and my eyes began to feel heavy. I sat my head down on the desk thinking I would just shut my eyes for a few minutes. The next thing I knew I heard gunshots being fired in my earphone and I sat up with a start slightly confused about where I was and what was happening. I got my bearings pretty quickly and realized the sound was outside and couldn't hurt me.

My stomach began to roll so I stood up slowly and walked over to the kitchenette and grabbed some peanut butter crackers from a basket on the counter. I went back to my seat at the desk to eat them, washing them down with a bottle of cold water from the fridge. Fortunately, between the food and the distraction of trying to figure out what was happening, my stomach wasn't much of a concern.

I began to flip through the monitor views rapidly trying to identify what just happened. I was thrilled to see that the sun had risen so I had a much clearer view of what was happening. Finally I found a screen with some movement. A white Suburban SUV was pulling into the driveway. They passed a card in front of the security box and the metal gate swung open. I figured it was highly unlikely that it was Bertucci so I waited to see just who it was. The color of the truck confused me, I figured if it was reinforcements from RangeMan they'd be driving a black vehicle.

Slowly the vehicle made its way straight up to the front of the house as though whoever was in it owned the place. When they got up to the front I switched views and saw the back of the truck to notice a little "e" sticker implying it was an Enterprise rental vehicle.

Then four doors opened at once and out stepped a man I didn't recognize at all along with a woman who appeared to be his wife. I had no idea who he was, but the woman I had seen somewhere before. When the two women from the back seat stood up where I could zoom in I knew I recognized them as well. Woody's family was here. I had to assume the man was his father because I knew his mother along with Liddy and Annie as the women traveling with him.

I was unsure what to do. Woody hadn't given me any instructions regarding the correct policy for his family's arrival. I debated the correct action a little longer toying with the knowledge these were my in-laws balanced with the fact that I had just heard gunfire meaning they were in danger. I watched them for a few moments longer as they approached the front door and just let themselves in without knocking. When we made it out of this mess Woody and I needed to have a chat about boundaries with his family.

As soon as the front door closed I switched through the outlying views looking for some guidance. I couldn't see a thing so I switched to an internal view of the house and then screamed out loud when I heard gun shots ring through the earphones again.

Quickly flipping through I saw a couple of the contract workers using the horse barn as cover engaging someone who was hiding in some brush in the pasture so that I couldn't see them. I made my decision at that point. Whoever it was that was shooting was close enough to the house that a stray bullet could conceivably make it to the house. I needed to secure Woody's family. I stood up to unlock the door and then had a second thought.

If someone was close enough to the house to engage the guys in a shootout, then I should probably have a gun on me when I left the safety of the panic room. I went to the closet Woody had described and opened up the safe trying to keep my jaw from dropping at the armory contained there. I found a small Baretta that I double checked was loaded and put it in the waist of my jeans. Then a little Sig caught my eye already snapped into an ankle holster so I took that too and rolled up my jeans to give myself a second layer of defense. I saw an ear piece and neck microphone like the guys used to communicate when I was working distractions so I put those on in case something happened while I was away from the monitors I could still hear what was going on.

Feeling a little shaky I, relocked the safe, squared my shoulders and then put my hand on the scanner to unlock the door. As soon as the metal bars locking me in stopped moving I pushed the door open and ran back up the stairs leading to the pantry.

I could hear the voices of Woody's family, with his father complaining that no one was around to welcome them. "It sounds like they're hunting awfully close to the house. You'd think that boy would know better than that." His father criticized.

I had noticed before that while Woody spoke freely about his sisters and mother, he shared very little about his father other than the fact he didn't approve of Woody's job and lifestyle. I didn't want to begin on the wrong foot but the way he just assumed he knew better than Woody hooked my temper and I had to struggle to keep my voice neutral when I came up behind them in the kitchen and said, "Actually, they aren't hunting; there is a bit of a situation going on right now so if you'd be kind enough to follow me downstairs I can get you to a secure area and answer your questions then."

"You can begin by answering the question of who the hell are you?" His father demanded.

"I'm sorry we haven't been properly introduced, but I'm Stephanie Plum," I said extending my hand and closing the distance between us.

His father looked at my hand with distrust and asked, "That's your name but it doesn't tell me who you are," He clarified still making no effort to respond to my outstretched hand.

I lowered it and said, "I am Woody's fiancée." I didn't know if he wanted that piece of information known but I needed his father to recognize that I was more than a temporary distraction to his son.

Of course my use of that word got eight eyes honed in on me critically making me regret my announcement and the fact that I'd been rushed through my morning routine and I was now standing here with no make-up feeling uncomfortable and practically naked without so much as a single layer of mascara to hide behind.

It didn't appear anyone knew what to say to that so I pushed them again to come downstairs to the safe area so that I could explain what was going on. Liddy came to the rescue by saying, "Show us where we need to go and we can sit and get to know each other better while we're waiting on Woody."

I led them to the door hidden in the pantry and relaxed slightly when his mother walked to the stairs followed by his father. Hopefully I could get us all secure and then I could figure out a way to answer their questions without Woody by my side for support.

Liddy hesitated before going through the doorway and turned to me to say, "You look a little pale, are you feeling alright?"

I knew that Liddy was aware that I was pregnant and since she was a midwife I figured I could tell her the truth. "It's been a stressful few days and morning sickness has made it harder to handle. Once we get this resolved, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I can help you while we're here to get a handle on eating in a way that the baby can handle. This will pass soon, don't worry." Liddy offered before laying a hand tenderly on my lower arm. I liked her instantly and nodded my head, slightly embarrassed that my eyes had filled with tears that I was blinking madly to keep from falling.

"Don't worry, that's just the hormones, they'll level off a little too," She said with a smile that included the same dimple that Stella and Woody shared.

Of course Woody's father heard our conversation and came back to where we were standing staring at me as though I were the devil incarnate. "So you've gotten yourself knocked up and you expect my son to just drop his life and support you?"

"I…No…" I stuttered complete unsure of how to answer that accusation. A piece of me wanted to defend myself and explain that Woody was more in control the night this happened than I was, but a larger piece knew I would never betray him to his parents to explain how I got pregnant.

"Just what I thought," He interrupted my musings. "No defense, no explanation. We wait for years for that boy to find a girl and this is what he gets." Then he threw his hands up in the air and exclaimed, "Jesus, lend a hand!"

Just as I was about to remind him that despite the way he felt about me we were like sitting ducks this close to the window and we needed to move, but the glass from the kitchen behind the pantry shattered and I could hear voices yelling to get in the house. I didn't recognize the voices and they sounded as though they knew I was here along with Woody's family. One of the thugs said, "Get in the house and either get Plum or one of the women that just showed up. Something tells me they're important to the guys shooting at us so we can use them to get what we need."

I turned back to Liddy, ignoring her parents, and pulled the gun from the waist of my pants at the same time saying, "Get downstairs and put your hand on the scanner to lock the door. Don't open it until you see either me or Woody on the screen telling you it's okay."

"What are you doing?" She asked with her voice laced with panic and her eyes focused on the gun in my hand.

"I'm going to buy you enough time to get down there," I explained pushing her forward while I spoke. "Now go!"

Fortunately, the change in my tone snapped Woody's family from their stupor and they began to run down the stairs without a second glance back. Unfortunately, they were loud so whoever was coming in would know where they were hiding.

I peeked around the door to the pantry and saw the two men splitting up to enter the house from the front and back simultaneously.

Realizing it was probably about to get ugly I pressed on the mic at my neck and said simply, "The guys are coming into the house at the front and back doors. Woody, your family arrived and I've gotten them into the panic room so they're safe."

I heard a little static in my earpiece then Woody's voice asked, "And are you with them in the room?" There was an edge to his voice that told me he already knew the answer to that question.

"No, they shot out the back window of the house as I was trying to convince them to go downstairs so I stayed up here to distract these guys when I heard that they wanted to grab one of your sisters to use as a bargaining chip to get to me. I didn't want your sisters to get hurt so I decided to stay where I could distract the guys if necessary to keep your family safe." I explained.

"Hector!" I heard Woody's voice yelling into the comm unit.

"Si," Hector replied. "Where are you Chica?"

"I'm in the edge of the kitchen next to the pantry, it sounds like your family is still arguing about locking the door," I answered before dropping my voice in response to the guys entering the house. "They've just come in."

"Steph, can you get to the back stairs without being seen?" Woody asked with background noise making it sound like he was running through the woods.

"Maybe," I replied wishing I had the ability to see where the guy was that entered from the back.

"If you can get up a flight you can go into our bedroom and shut the door, then lock it from the inside sealing you behind a steel door for some security." He advised quickly. Then he hesitantly asked, "Are you armed?"

I raised up a silent thank you that I thought to get a gun before I left the panic room. "Yea, I've got a Sig at my ankle and a Berretta in my hands."

Hector's voice came in next and said, "Good girl. I'm only two minutes from you so run if you can. If not, hide somewhere low."

I looked around and didn't see anyone, but I could hear footsteps near the kitchen telling me one of the guys was there making it impossible for me to make it upstairs without being seen. I looked around and didn't really see a good hiding place. I knew from listening in at RangeMan that if you had to hide for protection you went for a spot that was low because people didn't often bend down when searching for victims and if there was gunfire the bullets tended to ricochet at a level higher than the average waist so down to the ground was safer.

Unfortunately the pantry was full of food so I couldn't get into the shelves and moving something to hide behind it would involve making too much noise so I retreated back and flattened myself behind the pantry door hoping for the best.

The guy came in the pantry and I held my breath. I keep repeating to myself, "I must be still, I must be still," hoping the mantra would somehow make it reality. The footsteps came closer and closer and then I heard the door squeak as it came closer to my face. "Miss Plum, my cousin and I want to talk to you." He called out in a sick sing-song voice. "You can make it go smoother if you just come on out."

It sounded like he was about to turn around so I let out the breath I'd been holding. At that moment a couple of things happened at once. First I finally heard the sound of the door locking downstairs meaning Woody's family was safe. But, before I could begin to internally celebrate their safety the door flung away from me and I came face to face with Tony Bertucci who was holding a .38 directly at my face. My hand flew up to my chest out of the sheer surprise of coming face to face with the one person I didn't want to see.

It turned out to be fortunately because the microphone was right near the end of my fingers allowing me to activate it so that everyone monitoring the frequency could hear what was going on.

"Well, looky here, I've found the very person I was looking for. What are the chances of that?" Bertucci asked with a malicious smile on his face.

I knew Hector was close. He had told me he was only minutes away and I was sure he would be here any second, but I didn't know where the other guy was and I didn't know if Hector would know where to find us so I felt that I had to say something.

"What do you want Tony?" I asked him with an edge of defiance in my voice. I knew I shouldn't try to make him angry, but I didn't want him to know just how afraid I was.

"I found what I want. I wanted to see the person responsible for my best friend losing his life. I wanted to find a way to make that person pay for what did," He explained. "Now march yourself into the den and sit on the couch. We need to have a little fun before you pay to settle the bill for my friend's life."

I took slow steps and he grabbed my wrist wringing it behind my back causing me to scream at the unexpected stab of pain. I knew Woody would have heard that sound so I felt the need to reassure him. "You don't have to twist my arm; I was doing what you asked."

He got right up next to my face and spit out, "True, but you were taking too long. I know your team of guards will be here soon so we don't have time for you to pussyfoot around."

When I was three feet from the sofa he used his grip on my wrist to shove me down on the cushions. The pain shot down my arm from my wrist when he released me making me wonder if he had done more than just leave a bruise.

I righted myself sitting straight up in the center of the couch refusing to allow him the chance to get on top of me. "I didn't kill Jenkins," I reminded him hoping to buy Hector more time to get here.

Unfortunately Bertucci didn't appreciate being questioned so he backhanded me across the face cutting my lip on the inside and out as his ring pressed my lip into my teeth. I could taste blood and feel it running slowly down my chin.

"You don't get to defend yourself here. You may not have pulled the trigger, but you most certainly killed him." Tony yelled.

By that point his friend had joined us and reported to his boss, "It looks like there is a panic room in the basement."

"Can you get in it?" Tony asked.

"Probably, but it will take a few minutes. The technology is good so I'll have to work around it to recognize me as an authorized party." He replied seemingly very confident in his hacking skills.

Tony nodded and his friend left to try and get into where Woody's family was temporarily safe. Then I got his full attention again when he sneered and said, "This way someone else can help settle the debt if you cease to be useful."

"How am I supposed to be useful?" I asked still trying to sound brave but I felt myself start to panic and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get a grip on it.

Tony pulled out a knife from his back and toyed with it before pointing it to my stomach. "I think an eye for an eye would settle things nicely. You took the life of someone very close to me so I will take the life of someone you hold equally dear."

It hit me like a ton of bricks what he was planning on doing. He wanted to kill my baby and if I lived or died through the process was irrelevant to him. My death would be lumped into the category of collateral damage. I swallowed hard and involuntarily leaned forward to make my stomach less of a target. I had a gun at my ankle and my waist but I wasn't sure if I could get to either one without alerting Bertucci to what I was doing and causing him to do something with his knife beside just threaten to hurt me.

Tony leaned down and said in a soft voice, "So tell me, have you begun to think about names?" As he spoke he ran the end of his knife down my shirt cutting it out of the way. "Have you wondered if it was going to be a boy or a girl?" His reached down with his free hand and tore my shirt away to put my stomach on display.

It is strange how we notice things in times of great stress. For the last couple of weeks I had been getting sick and not eating much so I knew I had lost weight yet as I looked down I could swear I had a little baby bump. I had assumed I would have another month before I began to show any. My clothes still fit despite the round protrusion at my waist which I assumed was due to my weight loss.

Standing over me with the knife tip just above my navel I knew I had to do something. He was clearly deranged and was going to kill me and the baby so I had nothing to lose. I then saw him adjust his stance by spreading his legs which gave me the opening I needed to buy myself some time. I lifted my leg using all my strength and rammed his balls as high into his body as possible. Tony bent over and made a sound halfway between a yell and a whimper which gave me time to lean up, grab the Beretta at my back and aim it at Tony. I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger hitting him in the shoulder of the arm holding the knife. Strangely, instead of grabbing his shoulder he fell forward with the knife still gripped in his hand and landed on top of me pressing the knife into my side.

I looked up in pain and was horrified that I hadn't considered him falling over from my shot when I saw Hector standing behind him still holding his gun aimed at Tony.

Relief flooded through me removing the pain from the knife and the panic and confusion over the killer landing on top of me. Hector ran over to me and pulled him off, but saw the knife in my side. It looked like it was had gone in rather far, but it seemed to be far enough to the edge to have missed everything important in my body. Still, it was bleeding and I didn't have the courage to pull it out once I put my hand around the handle of the knife.

Hector put his hand on mine to stop me and shook his head no. He clicked my microphone off enabling him to use the frequency to report what happened. I knew the other guys were on their way and would appear any moment

I was taking shallow breaths and could feel the panic rising in me about the knife sticking out of my belly when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Bertucci," I said hoping Hector would understand my warning about who was approaching.

Hector put his finger to his lips to silence me and he ducked behind the sofa so that he could not be seen as Tony's cousin approached.

"Hey Tony," I heard his voice call out to his now dead cousin. "I can't get in. That system is way too tight so you'll have to make due with Plum for getting what you want."

As he came around the corner and saw me bleeding on the sofa his face broke into a smile but then he focused on his cousin who was lying lifeless beside me and his hand went to the gun holstered at his back. "What did you do?" He screamed at me with his hand visibly shaking trying to threaten me with his Glock.

A calm washed over me that I did not expect. With that new sense of peace I looked him in the eye and said, "Shoot me or sit down. I didn't kill your cousin. But when people threaten me bad things tend to happen to them."

"Well, since I don't see any of the goons surrounding you now I guess I don't have to worry about anything happening to me." As he spoke Hector appeared behind him so that only I could see my friend getting in position to take him down.

"Perhaps you should have considered the situation differently," I advised him as Hector put an arm around his neck and hit his arm forcing him to release the gun in one swift movement. I could see Hector's lips move in speech but his voice was so low I couldn't make out what he was saying except that I knew it must have been a good threat based on the look on Bertucci's face.

When Hector stepped away I saw that Bertucci's arms were cuffed behind his back rendering him safe.

I shut my eyes realizing now that the threat was over I was in a great deal of pain. I had a knife sticking out of my side and there was blood all over me. I hurt where the blade was and with each breath the pain seemed to radiate from the knife. I took a few slow deep breaths hoping to get back in control of the pain.

My eyes shot open when I felt hands on me and I smiled when I focused on Woody's deeply worried face. His eyes were staring at the knife in my side so I put my hand on his face to get his attention on me. "It looks worse than it is and it is no where as bad as Tony wanted it to be."

"You risked your life for my family," Woody said with his voice cracking at the end.

"I couldn't let them get hurt because of me," I explained hoping he wouldn't be mad at me for not staying in the panic room. "I'm sorry, but at the time leaving was the only plan I could come up with."

Woody quieted me with a single finger laid over my lips. "You are the bravest person I know. You were willing to trade your life to save someone you don't even know."

Before I could respond Bobby appeared and let out a string of words I hadn't heard together in my life. I knew Bobby had been an Army Ranger, but suddenly I would have believed he'd been a sailor based on his vocabulary.

Woody saw the expression on my face and chuckled, "I think you've upset Bobby."

"Bobby, any chance you can get this knife out of me?" I asked hoping to funnel his energy on the task at hand.

It worked and Bobby set about examining me poking around the blade to see if any internal organs had been hit. Deciding I was probably very lucky he told me to brace myself because he needed to get the knife out and stitch me up which was going to hurt.

I nodded that I understood and was grateful when Woody moved up to sit beside me on the sofa. Bobby had me stretch out over Woody's lap so that he could work. I didn't care about his reasoning all I knew is that Woody's arms were around me and that feeling of calm was back. I shut my eyes and tried to focus on the warmth and security that came from his touch.

I heard voices, some familiar, others not and a lot of running around, but I continued to focus on Woody trying to block out everything else.

I knew when the blade came out because of the sudden increase in pain and Bobby's apologies. I must have allowed a few tears to escape because I felt Woody's rough fingers wiping them away picking up the apologies from Bobby and offering his own.

Eventually the tugging of stitches ended and I felt a clean dressing being applied over my side so I opened my eyes to see what was happening. "Am I okay?" I asked Bobby wanting to be reassured that the baby was unharmed.

"I think so," He replied knowing what I was asking, "But I'd feel better if someone with a little more experience could check out the baby to be sure."

"I can help with that," Came a voice from behind us. At some point while I was being treated, Woody's family had been released and Liddy was there with a bag in her hand similar to what Bobby carried.

"Liddy," Woody said conveying so much with a single word. He didn't get up, but his voice clearly told her he was glad to see her and glad that she was safe and there to examine me.

Liddy came around to the front of the couch and began to run her hands over my stomach feeling for any tightness. Once she was satisfied that I wasn't cramping she reached in her bag and pulled out a speaker with a little microphone on the end which she stuck on my stomach and began to move it around. When I heard a sound that was similar to someone shaking a piece of metal she smiled and said there was a nice strong heartbeat. It was going so fast I began to panic that something was wrong.

Liddy must have noticed my panic as she reassured me, "Baby's heartbeats are supposed to be that fast right now." She continued to move the Doppler around on my stomach and in a moment I heard the same sound but from a different place on my stomach. Her face lit up even more telling me I must be fine.

I wasn't at all prepared for what she said next. "Well you two, not only is Stephanie fine, but your babies are too."

"Our what?" Woody asked picking up her plural use of the word baby.

"I'm getting two distinct heartbeats. You are definitely having twins and they are both doing well." She explained.

My eyes flew to Woody's and I was amazed at the joy I felt. He turned to me with shock on his face and asked in disbelief, "Twins?" He seemed to be trying to see how I felt about the news.

"Twins." I repeated back coming to accept that my life was already changing in every possible way so having two babies instead of one seemed like a small detail compared to all the other changes.

Just before Woody's lips touched mine we both heard his father come up and say, "So not only did you allow this girl to get to you but now that there are two babies you are trapped for life."

Woody instantly stiffened and everything about him that had been exuding warmth and comfort shifted and he was cold and angry as though someone had flipped a switch on the loving man I was going to marry.

Seeing what was happening Liddy asked Bobby to help her sit me back up so that I was not between her father and brother. I was suddenly very afraid of what was about to happen. According to the look on Liddy's face there was a far greater risk of damage to me and the baby from the altercation between the men in her family than there was from Bertucci.

No wonder Woody was so good with my family, compared to his parents mine seemed normal. What had I gotten myself into this time?


	21. A Little Banged Up

_None of the characters are mine. JE gets and deserves all the credit._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) once again your super-beta skills save the day. I'm telling you that cape is making more sense with every chapter._

**Chapter 21 – A Little Banged Up**

Woody lifted himself from the couch as soon as Liddy and Bobby sat me up. "Dad, you know nothing about Stephanie and me."

"That's right I don't. If she meant anything to you, I think we would have heard about her before finding out that you're engaged and she's pregnant." Woody's father said in a condescending tone. "Jesus boy, has it been that long since you'd been with a woman that you had to fall in with the first thing that threw herself at you?"

I was about to say something letting his father know that I didn't care for the way he was talking about me and to clarify that I didn't throw myself at anybody. At least I didn't think I did. Hell, I didn't even remember that night. For all I knew I may have thrown myself at Woody. Maybe I should be quiet and let Woody handle his father on his own.

"No," Woody interrupted my thoughts and his father's next sentence. "I didn't say anything to you because I refused to let you ruin the first thing that had been precious to me in a long time. I didn't want to hear your critical comments and your holier than thou speech about yet another choice I'd made that you didn't approve of."

"So instead you chose to hide her away?" His dad jumped in. "Say what you want, but it looks like you were ashamed of something."

"I am," Woody replied with his voice softening only slightly. "I was ashamed to let Stephanie see the kind of judgmental family I came from. I didn't want my future wife to know the kind of people that she would be gaining for in-laws."

"So you're trying to put this all on us?" His father asked building up to a full head of steam.

"I'm not trying to do anything; I'm just telling it the way it is." Woody answered. "Stephanie and I are starting a family; we are going to get married, and you can be a part of that by stopping the constant criticism or you can go home."

"What makes you think you are capable of caring for a wife and a child? Boy, you can hardly take care of yourself." His father interjected refusing to let go of the spotlight.

I had heard enough. If he insulted Woody or his choices one more time I was going to blow. As it was I barely contained the fury I felt in my voice. "I can answer that," I began talking as stood up. "Your son is a good man, and honorable man, and the only person that I want by my side. He has cared for me here and back in Jersey and he has cared for and protected a team of men across the world. I have seen him defend the innocent and care for those who need it with great tenderness. I don't know what you see when you look at your son, but when I look at him I see a man with no equal and someone I consider myself honored and blessed to spend my life with."

My words had the effect of forcing Woody's father to stop attacking his son, but it only caused him to swing his temper in my direction. "And what gives you the right to lecture me about what kind of man you think my son is. How long have you known him? How long had you dated before you realized he had a little money and you decided to try and get your claws into that for yourself? What do you know about what it takes to protect people who are innocent?"

I didn't even have time to react before Woody had moved to within inches of his father's face to say through clenched teeth, "She knows plenty about protecting the innocent. Who do you think kept those men from getting to you and mom? Who do you think put herself in harms way to keep you out of the line of fire. Not that you deserve to know, but I've known Steph for three years and during that time, not once had my bank balance come up. She is too good for me, and after meeting you I wouldn't blame her if she ran back to Trenton and refused to speak to me ever again."

I'd had enough. I had known through the example of my own mother that there were some people you could talk to until you were blue in the face and it wouldn't do a thing to change their minds. I decided to put my breath to better use and spoke directly to Woody. "The only way I'm running back to Trenton is if you are going too. I don't give a shit about your money, but I do care about you. We're in this together, not because we have to be, but because we realize that we need each other and we want to be. You are the only person I can picture myself waking up with each morning. And you are definitely the only man that I could see by my side for this adventure." As I spoke I drew closer and closer to Woody so that my hands were on his chest by the last words and his arms went reflexively around my back.

"You and me, Darlin'," He replied. "We're in this together forever." With that declaration he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn't a hot passion filled kiss; his tongue barely entered my mouth. But it was a rich kiss that promised a lifetime of love and devotion. With that single connection any concerns I had about marriage vanished and I began to feel an urgency to become his wife.

When we pulled back he looked in my eyes searching for something. "What happened?" He finally asked giving up on using ESP to figure it out.

"I'm ready," I explained. "Anytime, anywhere, the sooner the better," I couldn't help but smile at the expression that came over his face.

"Really?" He asked as though I'd just given him a gift too good to be true. "You really want to marry me now? You don't want to wait until after the baby comes?"

I shook my head no. "I definitely don't want to wait that long." I confessed.

Bobby came over, perhaps trying to insure Woody's father didn't have time to ramp up the emotional interaction again and said, "You guys have plenty of time to figure this out. Right now, just this once, I want you to go upstairs and get some rest. All of this isn't good for Stephanie or the babies and I've got to check on the guys that are still outside."

Woody looked at me and raised an eyebrow asking if I wanted to take Bobby's advice. I wasn't exactly ready for sleep but I did feel like I'd been through an emotional wringer so escaping the mood of the family room was pretty high on my priority list.

Liddy came over in response to my hesitation, "It's probably is a good idea to go stretch out for a while. I'll talk to Dad and the family and when you come back down we can start over from scratch."

"I'd like that," I replied feeling horrible about the way I'd started off with Woody's father.

We had to walk past his parents to get to the stairs and as we did his mother grabbed my hand. It brought a fresh wave of pain that went shooting from my hand to my elbow. With the more urgent knife sticking out of my side, and then the fight between Woody and his father I'd almost forgotten about the injury from Bertucci's rough handling of my wrist.

I didn't want to react to her innocent attempt to get my attention, but I couldn't stop the hiss that escaped from my lips. It was a much milder reaction than what my body wanted since there were currently spots appearing before my eyes. I was proud I was able to hang onto my grip with consciousness and not pass out from it.

Woody didn't miss my reaction and knelt in front of me when I bent over at the waist. Liddy was instantly beside me as well, both assuming there was a problem with the baby. I took a few deep breaths and then straightened back up to say, "I'm fine." I held up my injured hand and pulled the stretchy material of the long sleeve up to my elbow revealing a nasty looking blue and purple wrist and lower arm. "Bertucci," I offered as explanation.

Woody's mother looked horrified realizing she had caused the pain that I was reacting to, but she seemed afraid to admit to it since I don't think anyone saw her try to reach for me. I looked at her when I spoke, "I'm sorry to leave so abruptly, but I need to have Bobby take a look at my wrist too. I promise I'll come back down in a few hours and maybe we can try getting to know each other then." My words seemed to help her as she offered me a small smile in return.

Woody's father turned around and sat down without comment or reaction. If anything he seemed irritated at the interruption the events of the day so far had caused to his routine. I knew Woody had to put up with a lot between my meddling mother and my embarrassing Grandmother, but I hoped neither of them caused the stress that Woody's dad had introduced in only a couple of hours of knowing him.

Woody put a protective arm around me and began to slowly lead me away again. As soon as we got to the base of the stairs he swept me off my feet and carried me to our bedroom. Slamming the door closed with his boot he then laid me gently on the bed much like our first night here. I watched as he called Bobby and told him I had an additional injury for him to take a look at when he could. He listened for a few minutes and then disconnected.

"Is everybody alright?" I asked hoping none of the contract workers had been injured because of me.

I saw his jaw clench which instantly put me on edge that something was wrong. "Bones took a bullet high in the shoulder which Bobby can handle."

That answered my question, but it didn't explain the tension that was practically radiating from him. "What else?" I pressed, sitting up so that he would know I wasn't going to let this go until he spilled what was wrong.

Woody ran his hand up and down my leg almost as a comfort to himself more than to me and said, "Bobby said that a couple of the guys think Bertucci and his cousin made it to the house because someone helped them. We were at the fence within minutes of the alarm going off and they weren't there. It's like we had a false alarm that pushed us to the wrong side of the property as a false trail. Then Tony knew exactly where to go to get to the house even though he was traveling across the property in the dark. Either he is one hell of an Italian mob boy scout or he had help. There is a limited number of people that could have offered that kind of information so I'm a little on edge that one of the guys betrayed us."

I knew that loyalty was valued above all else with these guys. The fact that I defended them around the Burg spoke volumes and when I refused to leave them, even in dangerous situations only served to cement their opinion of me. To think that we had brought a Judas with us made my blood run cold. "How do we figure out who it was?"

"I need to talk to everybody to debrief the mission before they are released to return to Trenton. I'd like you to be in on that discussion to see if your instincts pick up on anything. I can't come out and accuse anybody without some proof." He told me.

"When can we talk to them?" I asked ready to get started. If there was somebody on the property that wanted to see me hurt then I was anxious to find out who it was before they succeeded.

Woody smiled at my initiative and pushed some loose hair away from my face. "Hector is in the control room running through the tape to see if there is anything there. It would be best if we could enter the meeting with a little back-up for our suspicions. Once he's done we'll figure out what out next step should be."

I leaned back into the pillows realizing that could take some time. I used my good hand to pull Woody closer. After all that had happened over the last few hours I didn't want him to leave my side.

He must have picked up on how I felt, because he moved to the exact spot I wanted him to be and then spoke, "I'm so sorry I left you here to face Bertucci alone. At the time I thought you would be safe in the panic room and if I could find him first then I could end this whole nightmare for you. I swear I had no idea that my family was going to show up. As much as I hated the idea of you out of that room when you reported in, I have to admit there was a piece of me that was relieved that you weren't locking yourself in a small space with my father. I'm so sorry for how he spoke to you."

I sat back up suddenly feeling energized to have this conversation. "You listen to me Woodrow," I began, and saw his head practically snap with the speed he looked up at me when I said his full name. "You did the right thing in putting me somewhere safe and telling me to stay put. I'm the one that went off on my own and got myself hurt. As for your family, I of all people understand that you are not the image of your parents. Their opinions are not yours. You spoke so beautifully about us and about me. I've never had someone defend me like that. If anything, I'm sorry about the way he talked to you. I was getting more and more furious with every word and every condescending phrase he said."

"Yea, now you see why I felt the need to leave Texas. It is a big state, but it isn't big enough for the both of us," He admitted sadly.

"Your sisters and mother seem nice, though," I pointed out, looking for a bright side.

"They are, but they're a gossipy group and I'm sure the news of our relationship from Stella is why they showed up unannounced." He explained before adding, "And as a lesson in keeping her mouth shut, I'm going to have Hector play the audio of Dad's words so she can hear what you had to endure and know that she is to blame for you being exposed to that."

"No," I quickly interrupted. "You can't blame her for what happened downstairs. She was just trying to defend you by sharing that when everybody left you alone you found someone you are happy with and you are planning a future in your own way. She never meant for this to happen."

"That's the point. How many mothers do I need? She should have followed Liddy's example and kept her mouth shut to give me the chance to introduce you when I thought it was best." He complained.

"And when was that going to be?" I asked still stinging from his father's comment that if I was that important to Woody he would have said something to his family sooner.

Woody shrugged, "Maybe when our kids were graduating from high school." My eyes got bigger at his off handed manner so he kept talking. "Understand that isn't because I would want to hide you or our relationship, but because I feel the need to protect you and our children from my family. I hated the constant criticism I grew up with and I swore my own kids would never have to put up with it. Not from me and most certainly not from him."

When I looked at the silence for what it was and realized that he was trying to protect me and our children I was no longer offended and hurt, I felt loved. I was going to have to learn to trust Woody more. Joe never minded telling me how embarrassing he found some of my antics and how he wanted me to change in order to make his life easier. This was quite the switch and not jumping to the worst possible possibility was going to take some getting used to.

I didn't know how to explain this to Woody so I settled for putting my hand against his face and scooting closer to him. I felt my stitches pull as I moved alerting me to the fact that the local Bobby used was wearing off. Once I was close enough I leaned my face to his and kissed him softly. As I pulled back an inch I whispered, "I love you."

He let out a long breath and said, "I love you too." We stayed still for a few minutes with our mouths within inches of each other, but neither of us moving to close that space. Instead we just the tension and desire begin to build until it was a tangible need to press my lips against his. Just as I was beginning to move Woody jerked around and had his gun aimed at the door in the time it took me to blink. Bobby walked in and stopped short when his eyes saw Woody's Glock aimed at his chest.

"Man, you called me, remember?" Bobby asked, causing Woody to engage the safety and return the gun to his back. As Bobby walked over to my side Woody stood up allowing him access.

Bobby lifted the remnants of my shirt so that he could see the bandage and stitches on my side. I made a mental note to change clothes as soon as he left. Satisfied that I hadn't done any damage he said he would leave the bandage off so that I could take a shower when he left but told me I should keep the site covered for a couple of days at least so I needed to let Woody replace the gauze and tape once it was dry. I nodded that I understood his instructions and was relieved to know there could be a shower in my immediate future.

"Now, what brings me to see you this afternoon?" Bobby asked in a teasing tone.

I held up my wrist and pulled my shirt sleeve up to reveal the bruising and swelling. I watched Bobby's blank face slam down to cover up his anger. "How did I miss this?" He asked under his breath.

I answered the rhetorical question, "You were a little preoccupied by the knife sticking out of my side."

Bobby lifted my arm and moved my wrist as gently as possible but nearly every movement caused some pain. I was trying as hard as I could to cover up how badly it hurt, but he stopped in the middle of his exam and apologized for hurting me. "My guess is that something is broken, but without x-rays it's impossible to tell. I know you are probably against an x-ray, but in this case it's going to be necessary. If there is just a small fracture then they can immobilize it and you'll be fine in a matter of weeks, but based on the amount of swelling and bruising already I'm afraid it might be more complicated than that. A break to any of the bones in the wrist can require surgery because they dislocate so easily. We're going to need an orthopedic specialist if the x-ray shows any movement in the bones."

I felt a single tear fall from my eyes. I knew that pregnancy and x-rays didn't usually go together. It's not that I'd read that much information on my condition, but that every time I'd gone to the ER the technician would ask if there was any chance I was pregnant before strapping the lead vest over my torso. I was trying to keep the babies safe and now it looked like I needed to put them in harms way because I chose to bait the crazy guy instead of just following what he wanted me to do.

Of course Bobby saw the moisture as it rolled down my cheek. "Shhh," Bobby prompted wiping it away with the back of his knuckle. "I'll go with you and will be sure they take care of you and the babies."

Woody came over from the opposite side of the bed and stretched out next to me. He pulled me into his side and moved his magic fingers to my neck and began to soothe me in his secret way. I relaxed instantly in his arms and shut my eyes and heard the guys discuss transporting me to the hospital as I began to drift off to sleep.

When I woke up I was aware of someone wrapping my wrist. It was tender, so without opening my eyes to see what was going on I said, "Ouch, go away." I heard both Woody and Bobby respond with laughter.

"Not this time, Darlin'," Woody replied. "We need to get you up and fed, then you have a special appointment with an orthopedist in the next county."

I opened my eyes and asked, "Why is the appointment special?" while stretching like a cat.

Bobby answered this time, "We got you in with an orthopedic surgeon that Ranger knows from his Army days. He is opening his office just to see you so that we can handle the security of getting you there undetected."

"Why do I need special security?" I asked now fully awake. "If Bertucci is gone and his family is going to leave me alone then what danger am I being protected from?"

The guys looked back and forth before Woody spoke up, "We are now sure that Bertucci had help from one of the guys we brought with us from Trenton, so until we isolate who was helping him and why, you might still be in danger."

"Okay," I relented. I was still full of questions, but I decided I was just going to let this one go. Clearly the guys were more worked up about my wrist so I would just go with the flow until they came back to the subject.

Bobby stopped wrapping my wrist and announced I was ready to go so I sat up gently and sat still for a few minutes waiting to see if the babies would object. I felt fine so I decided to risk a walk to the bathroom to freshen up and get ready for a drive. I splashed some water on my face with one hand and tried to run a brush through my hair, but realized pretty quickly that it was hopeless so I turned around and found Woody leaning against the doorframe watching me. "Want to help?" I asked hopeful.

Woody stepped behind me and ran his fingers through my hair gathering it into a low ponytail at the base of my neck. Then he put the band around it to hold it captive and pulled the hair through a couple of times to make it tight enough. When he was finished he put his hands on my shoulders and pressed his front to my back holding me to him.

"It's alright Steph, I'll be with you every step of the way." Woody promised and I believed him with everything that was in me.

Woody's family was no where to be found when we came downstairs. As if he sensed my thought Woody explained, "I had Stella open up her home to our family since she made the call that brought them here." I narrowed my eyes watching him, wondering if he had blamed her for what happened earlier. "Don't worry, I didn't make her listen to the tapes, but I did tell her Dad was less than welcoming and she understood." I figured that was probably the best he could do to honor my request that he leave Stella alone.

We were a few steps from the waiting Explorer when I felt that hinky feeling of being watched. I froze on the spot causing Woody to run into me. "What is it?" He asked.

I turned around and hugged him in order to speak without being observed and told him, "I feel like someone is watching me. Not in a protective shadow way, but in a harmful evil way."

Woody's arms tightened around me noticeably. "What direction?"

I didn't know how to answer his question. It's not like I could pinpoint it. I wasn't a psychic, I just knew someone was watching me and I didn't like it. But I tried to concentrate and see if I could pinpoint it any better. "To our right," I offered. "But I can't be any more specific than that."

He nodded, placed a kiss on my head and then motioned for us for to move to the waiting SUV. When we got in he made a call on his cell phone requesting to know who was scheduled to patrol the northern quadrant of the property tonight. He hung up and told Hector to roll.

"Who was there?" I asked.

"Smith," Was his succinct reply. Seeing I wasn't satisfied with his answer he gave me a little more to wrap my head around. "He is the most recent addition to the contract team. He still does a lot of work for the government so his ability to come with us was unexpected because he is often out of the county. The direction you mentioned was scheduled as his area to secure and patrol, but that doesn't mean he was doing anything other than observing our departure to insure there were no problems." I could tell he was trying to convince himself of this as much as he was me, but the way his hand was balled up in a fist told me he wasn't buying it either.

It was dark again as we left the house so I still didn't have the ability to see anything outside the tinted windows about the outlaying areas where his house was located. I felt the truck going around curves and up and down hills or mountains but I couldn't really tell anything more than that.

Just as I was about to fall asleep again, Hector put the turn signal on and we pulled into a medical complex that was mostly dark. Bobby jumped out and entered the building alone before returning ten minutes later with a man in casual pants and a button up shirt beside him. Woody jumped out and shook hands with the man I assumed was the doctor before they all walked to my door and Bobby opened it.

"Stephanie, I'm Doctor Murray and I understand you need to have a few x-rays taken." The man standing in front of me said as an introduction. He had a kind face and from my first impression I decided to trust him. It helped that I knew long before I was brought here he had been fully vetted by someone at RangeMan.

I jumped out and we went into the building following him up a stairwell to the second floor where he stopped at the x-ray room. I was fitted front and back with a led apron and a special blanket went over my midriff to protect the babies. He explained, "Because there is no one else here I'll just take one shot and then we'll look at it to see if any others are necessary. I don't want to expose you to anymore radiation if it isn't required." I appreciated his explanation and his manner or addressing my concerns.

It took about five minutes for him to return and flip on a large flat screen monitor with an electronic x-ray on it. He pointed to two areas in my wrist and said, "Bobby, you were right, it is definitely broken, but I don't see any movement in the alignment so I think a cast is all that is necessary right now. We can cast it and have her come back next week to reexamine. If everything is staying put then the cast alone should be sufficient, but if there is any new movement we can address that then."

Bobby seemed pleased with Dr. Murray's explanation and I sat back under the led weight that still hadn't been removed while they debated the merits of various cast types. When they finally came to a conclusion Bobby turned around to look at me and then gave me a Burg worthy eye roll. "I'm sorry Steph, we should have taken these off," He apologized as he began to undo the straps of Velcro holding on my protective coverings.

Dr. Murray then explained the cast they were going to use was actually a steel shanked brace that could be removed if needed so that I could shower or adjust the fit as the swelling went down. But he cautioned me against taking it off for the first week unless it was absolutely necessary.

It didn't take him long to get a fit he was pleased with and he announced I was ready to go. Bobby stayed behind for a few minutes to work out the details of my next appointment. I assumed that meant I would be staying in Virginia for at least another week.

By the time we left, I was exhausted and my wrist was beginning to throb from the manipulations Dr. Murray had done. I was really looking forward to getting back home and going to bed. For once I just wanted to lie down next to Woody and actually sleep. Maybe the day had shaken me up more than I thought if my hormones were even picking up their head at the thought of being in bed with Woody.

As I pondered my exhaustion as compared to my hormones, Woody pulled me across the seat so that I could put my head in his lap much the way we traveled here from Trenton just a few days ago. Snuggling against him I shut my eyes and let his hands relax me as he rubbed my back and shoulder. I was lost in how he knew just the right way to touch me so that it never tickled. Then he pulled the scrunchie out of my ponytail and ran his fingers through my curls. Somehow he avoided pulling my hair even though I know it had to be a tangled mess.

But when his hand settled at the base of my neck and his thumb began to make those hypnotic circles my hormones began to take notice. And when my vocal chords allowed a moan of appreciation to escape, I felt his hormones take notice too.


	22. All in the Family

_None of the characters belong to me. JE gets the credit and the money._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank for once again working your Beta magic to get this chapter turned around so quickly._

**Chapter 22 – All in the Family**

I woke up slowly the next morning slightly disoriented. I remembered going to the doctor the night before and from the weight on my arm the brace realized that it wasn't all a dream. I thought I remembered moaning in Woody's lap, but after that I guess the length of the car ride back to the house caught up with me and I feel asleep. I have to assume Woody brought me upstairs and put me to bed because I have no memory or arriving and it felt like I was naked, so I doubt Bobby had anything to do with my current state.

I opened one eye marginally and shut it quickly as light flooded the room telling me I had slept late enough that the sun was fully up and I was definitely not. I felt my pillow shake and realized I was practically lying on top of Woody. "You can't pretend to be asleep now, I saw you open your eye. I think we should get up."

"Don't want to," I whined but failed to keep a smile off my face which only encouraged him to keep pushing me to wake up.

"If you need help waking up, I'll be glad to offer my assistance," He said with his voice a little deeper than usual since he was still waking up himself.

I waited to see what he meant by offering his assistance and was rewarded when his arms came around me and his left hand began to move from my neck down to my waist and back up beginning at my spine but moving closer to my side with each trip up and down. When he made it to the edge of my ribs I found myself pulling away from him slightly so that his hand could continue its trip around my torso hopefully slowing down as he got closer to where I most wanted him to be.

Woody picked up on what I wanted immediately and allowed his body to push me over so that I was flat on my back and he was leaning against me lying on his side. The whole time his hand continued to journey up and down setting small fires of desire with every inch he touched. When his magic fingers arrived at my breast I shamelessly arched my back encouraging him to stay where he was, but he was enjoying the path his hand had been making so he whispered, "Patience, Steph," and kept moving.

When his hand made its way to my stomach I noticed it quit moving up and down and began to trace a small circle with his fingertips. Curious what he was doing I found the will to open my eyes and saw he was focused on my stomach with a tender expression on his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He smiled but didn't look up at me to reply, "I can't believe they're in there."

I moved a hand to the side of my stomach understanding what he meant. "Trust me, they are and over the next few months you will get to watch me grow bigger and bigger until I need help to stand up and I can't see my feet because they are in there."

He flattened his palm across my belly button and looked at me to say, "I can't wait. You are so beautiful, Steph, and to see you grow with my babies is going to be the greatest thing. It's like watching a miracle and every change or development is further proof of that wonder."

"You say that now," I told him, "But when I can't drive because my stomach sticks out further than my arms we'll see how much of a miracle you think it is then."

Woody moved to have his body directly over mine and got my full attention when I realized not only was I naked, but he had taken the same liberty with himself when he came to bed too.

"I can't think of anything better than watching the changes in your body while my children grow and develop in you. The idea of the world being able to see it as evidence of our love is a total turn on." He said while slowly lowering himself so that I had his body pressed against mine with his knees and elbows holding some of his weight. Then his mouth went to the side of my neck while he continued to talk, "I like knowing that everyone can see that you are mine."

As if a new thought just occurred to him Woody pulled back from my neck causing me to whimper as a complaint. "Speaking of everyone seeing that you're mine…let's talk about getting married. I think you said yesterday the sooner the better, do you still feel that way?"

"Yes, I still feel that way," I replied before lifting my head to plant a row of kisses down his raised neck. "So why don't we talk about that after we get up." I was hoping he would get the hint that I wanted to play now, and plan a wedding later.

When Woody moved his mouth to the juncture of my neck and shoulder and sucked the skin hard enough to mark me I assumed that to be his consent to my plan so I bent my legs at my knees to angle my hips against his body. He growled softly in response to my blatant invitation and began to move his lips down my chest to where I wanted them to be.

Just as his mouth latched on my nipple there was a knock at the door. Woody's head jerked up and he yelled, "Damn it, go away!"

But a second knock made it clear that whoever was there wasn't inclined to follow his instructions. I decided to just accept the fact that my hormones would be on a roller coaster all day and replied to the second knock by saying, "Just a minute," and then whispering to Woody, "I'm going to expect that you will deal with whatever is wrong so that when we come back to this room later you can finish what you started."

"Yes ma'am," He replied before standing up in his full naked glory making me lick my lips. "Or, I can shoot whoever is at the door and we can finish it right now."

While I appreciated the offer, I didn't want him shooting one of the guys who had worked to protect me yesterday so I laughed as though I believed he was joking and sat up to end the conversation.

Woody pulled on a pair of jeans and nothing else before walking over to the door. I saw that he was about to open it and since I had on no clothes I jumped up and ran into the bathroom to pull myself together. Unfortunately, I didn't think to pick up any clothes so I went in with nothing to wear meaning I had to stay in there until our visitor left.

I began by getting sick, but it didn't upset me because I knew I would feel better afterward and true to my experience I did. Realizing it could be a while before the bedroom would be clear for me to reenter I filled up the tub and got ready for a nice long soak. My wrist was throbbing so I carefully removed the brace and couldn't believe how much worse it looked this morning. I'd have to be sure and get it back on just the way Dr. Murray had it last night because if Bobby saw this he would definitely freak out.

The water was heaven and I was curious if there was anyway to get this tub, or one just like it in Trenton. Especially as I got bigger I would appreciate the extra room and the perfect angle of the back that was so comfortable. I stayed in until I was pruney and got out to wrap myself in one of Woody's great towels. I had managed to halfway wash my hair in the tub so I now had the arduous task of trying to tame it.

After spending over an hour in the bathroom I decided it was probably safe to come out so I made sure to readjust the towel in case I was wrong and cracked the door slightly. It was enough to hear voices who were arguing in hushed tones. I recognized one as Woody and the other I assumed to be his father. I was unsure of what to do. Did I need to interrupt to keep them from coming to blows or should I continue to hide in the bathroom? I assume that since they've managed to know each other for over thirty years without anyone getting hurt that they could probably handle being alone for another few minutes, but what do I know.

Fortunately, the decision was made for me as I heard the conversation abruptly end and his father say, "We'll expect to see you two in half an hour," and then the door closed with more force than was necessary.

I counted to ten before coming out hoping it wouldn't be obvious that I'd been listening. When I came around the corner Woody was lying on his back on the bed as though he just fell backward when the door closed. I decided to take advantage of his position and my state of undress by climbing on top of him. I smiled when his eyes shot open in surprise.

He took a deep breath and reached out to pull me down on top of him running his hands up and down my back on top of the towel that was barely staying together in the front. "I knew I should have pulled out my gun instead of answering the door," He summed up.

I moved my hands to either side of his face and said, "But then you'd be too busy hiding the body to be with me right now, so it's probably best that you didn't."

I thought I was being so clever until Woody said, "You say that now, but we are expected downstairs in half and hour. The family wants a chance to meet you properly. My Dad is too stubborn to admit he might be wrong about you, but my sisters and mother realize what you did yesterday to save them and they want a chance to thank you and get to know you better."

I took a deep breath. I think I'd rather have a root canal with no Novocain than have to face off with his father again. But, I knew it would have to be done at some point so we may as well get it over with. I nodded that I understood and began to get up.

His arms went around me instantly, preventing me from escaping. "We've got a few minutes yet before we have to get ready. Just let me have a little time with you here." It was as if he needed the comfort of my presence to prepare for whatever could happen later.

We cuddled and touched each other, but it never escalated to a sexual level. It was a very sensual time and we both resented having to leave the beauty of the moment. Woody did promise that they were laving tomorrow, so no matter what, we would have them gone in the morning. Then we would have to deal with the betrayal of the contract worker after his family left. After figuring out what happened, we would send them home along with Hector and Bobby. Then we would stay for a few wonderful days completely by ourselves. If we continued to have interruptions I was starting to think locking ourselves in the bunker in one of the caves at the back of the property might be the only way we'd have any privacy.

Trying to stay focused on the task at hand I dressed in a blue button up shirt. It took a while to get it buttoned because the brace made my fingers clumsy and the sleeve wouldn't go around the bulk on my arm so I had to roll it up. Still, the color of the shirt did something for my eyes and when I paired it with some faded jeans I almost looked like I belonged here.

Woody pressed a kiss on the top of my head before leading us downstairs. The noise coming from the kitchen told me that's where everyone was congregating. Woody took my good hand and pulled me in with him.

As soon as we entered the kitchen Woody's mother came over and pulled me into a hug. "Stephanie, it's so good to see you. I hope you rested well." Her greeting seemed sincere, but I felt the disapproving presence of his father behind me and was unable to ignore it.

She pressed on as though she didn't notice her husband's sour expression, or had learned to function around it. "We are having a finger lunch at the bar. What can I get you?"

I hadn't heard of a finger lunch so Woody jumped in to explain. "Mom makes several different kinds of sandwiches, and then she cuts them into small pieces so that we can pick up a bite in our fingers and sample them all. On top of that she throws in some fruits and vegetables cut up in bite sized pieces and we just stand around and graze for the meal."

I liked the idea so I looked at the spread and then smiled when I saw a bowl that had pickle spears in it. As if he knew where my attention had gone Woody pulled the bowl over and picked up a spear holding it out for me to take a bite. I had forgotten how much I liked the combination of flavor and texture so I took it from his fingers and finished the tangy treat by myself.

Since his Dad stayed over to the side in a self imposed exile the rest of us had a pleasant meal. When we were finished eating Annie asked Woody if they could ride. He hesitated and his sisters began to beg relentlessly, telling him they knew he wanted to, and they wanted to have that kind of special time with him before they left.

I thought he was hesitating because of me so I put his mind at ease by saying, "I think you should go. We can walk you to the stables and see you off, then your mother and I can either stay at the barn since it's nice outside, or come back up to the house."

It looked like he wanted to do it so I put the final piece of reassurance in by saying, "Hector is around somewhere, right?"

Woody smiled and said, "He and Bobby are making some upgrades to a few of the systems, but Bones is here and can shadow you while I'm gone."

I had heard of Bones and knew that he had taken a bullet to the shoulder, but I assumed that if Woody suggested it, then Bone's shoulder must not be too badly injured. Taking comfort in that, I agreed to the plan, much to his sisters' delight.

Almost as if on cue Woody nodded his head to the door behind me and I spun around to see a guy standing there that could only be a RangeMan employee. I put my hand out and said, "I'm guessing you're Bones." He nodded without saying a word. "I'm Stephanie; it's nice to meet you."

With that he smiled a little and replied, "I've heard a lot about you. The pleasure is all mine."

Woody's father half mumbled beside me, "Jesus, she isn't a celebrity for Pete's sake."

Bones put himself between me and Woody's dad to say, "Where I come from she is. Bomber is one of a kind."

I tensed at his use of the nickname I hated. Of course it was noticed and Woody's Dad said, "What kind of a name is Bomber?"

Woody jumped in and explained, "The papers back home refer to Stephanie as the Bombshell Bounty Hunter so a lot of the guys around RangeMan shortened it to Bomber. It's meant as a name of honor, but I don't think Steph likes it very much."

That prompted his Dad to reply, "Well, we can agree on that much at least."

Bone and Woody each moved closer to me as though pulling in the ranks would somehow protect me from the negativity of the room. Woody then offered, "If I'm going riding I'm sure my parents would understand if you just wanted to go back upstairs and rest. Your wrist is probably still hurting." He was clearly trying to give me an escape which no one could have argued with but something told me that would be the wrong thing to do.

I turned my head back to glance at his mother and said, "No, I think I'll be fine for a bit longer. I can always come back up to the house if it gets to be too much."

Woody's shoulders sagged as he accepted that I was going to spend time with his father so he looked at Bones and instructed, "Don't let her out of your sight. And if things get too heated, get her back upstairs. Keeping her safe from any kind of aggression is your top priority."

Bones slipped back into silence and nodded his understanding.

When we were ready, our party of eight walked down to the stables at the barn and Woody and his sisters saddled up the horses I'd met a couple days previously with silent efficiency. Just before he mounted the beautiful painted horse he bent down and kissed me taking advantage of our closeness to warn me, "Don't take any crap from him. He can smell fear and lives to intimidate. You're stronger than him, and you don't have to put up with it. Bones can get you away from him if you need him to."

I appreciated his warning and advice so I gave him another quick kiss and shooed him away telling him not to worry and then marveling at the ease with which he got up on the horse and rode over to where his sisters were waiting. The he touched the brim of his cap just like the cowboys did in all the old westerns and I found myself smiling at the genteel gesture. I watched the muscles in his legs as he lifted up from the saddle and encouraged his horse to run. When his sisters took off after him, Woody's mother came over to me and said, "I think that boy's smitten with you."

I knew she was trying to extend an olive branch so I smiled at her and said, "The feeling is completely mutual."

There were some chairs under a covered area at the back of the barn so we settled down over there, while Bones stood off to the side, scanning the horizon for any type of threat. I briefly remembered how much a body guard's presence used to bug me, but now I'm so accustomed to it, if they are doing their job well I can nearly ignore it.

Woody's father stayed in the barn and I heard him complaining about how things were stored followed by the loud sound of him rearranging things to suit his own opinion of how it should be. Did this man understand what a boundary was?

His mother began to chat away, oblivious or unconcerned about what was going on behind us in the barn. She told me about Woody as a child and how he changed when he joined the Army and her fears that he would never find someone who could understand him.

I listened politely; always glad to have details shared with me about the man I loved. She stopped briefly to reorganize her thoughts and I took the chance to briefly look around us. It was a beautiful day, a gentle breeze was coming from the north and it was cool, but the bright sun made it pleasant so that it wasn't too cold to enjoy the feel of being outside.

When I looked over the pasture I saw something move that caught my eye, but by the time I focused on it I couldn't make out anything definitive. I looked over at Bones and asked if he saw anything, but he'd been looking more towards the tree line in the opposite direction. The more I looked at the pasture the more I was convinced there was someone there. But why would someone feel the need to hide if they were from RangeMan?

Damn, my relaxing afternoon had just been completely ruined. Woody's Dad came out of the barn and sat next to his wife. I tried to determine if the growing feeling of dread was from his presence of the possibility that someone was out there watching us.

I stood up and walked over to Bones. "There is something just past the line of rocks in the pasture. I saw movement and then it disappeared."

Woody's father overheard and put in his two cents worth to say, "It was probably an animal. No reason to be so dramatic."

While I had to admit that was a distinct possibility, I feel strongly that it was more than that. I looked at Bones and tilted my head to the side indicating I wanted him to check it out. "My orders were to not let you out of my sight."

"Do you really want me to go with you?" I asked, trying to be sure he understood what a bad idea that was.

Understanding what I meant, Bones' blank face slammed into place and I knew he was going to check it out. I felt the need to say something before sending him into harms way so I said, "Hey, if I'm right you may get the jump on the guy responsible for that bullet hole Bobby had to stitch up."

His eyes smiled even if his mouth stayed in a line. But when he said, "Hooah!" I knew my words had been understood for what they were.

Woody's Dad mumbled, "It's like you control them all! You snap your fingers and all the men come running. What kind of power do you have over the soldiers from that company?"

I took offense at his statement but I didn't want to get into an argument about it. I decided to try and explain knowing it probably wouldn't do much good. "I'm sort of known for my instincts. I can't explain it, but I get a feeling when something is off and more times than not I'm right so the guys have an unspoken rule about trusting it."

"Don't expect me to jump and run just because you see your shadow," He warned me. I didn't bother responding.

I was desperately trying to come up with a change of subject for Woody's Mom when I heard a single gun shot. Woody's Dad stood up immediately looking to where Bones had disappeared. I waited for Bones to acknowledge that he was alright but no sign came. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Bobby. When it went straight to voicemail, I tried Hector and got the same thing. I left a message for both of them detailing my feeling, Bones' departure and the gunshot asking for some assistance.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed making his parents turn to face me. I was embarrassed but I refused to give into that emotion channeling my inner Ranger to push away the unproductive emotions and come up with a plan. If this worked I'd have to thank him for teaching me that.

I remembered Woody saying there was a panic room in the barn, but he hadn't shown it to me. I needed to get us either in that room, or at least able to access it quickly if needed. "I need your help to find the panic room in the barn. I think we are going to have some company in a few minutes and we need a place to hide out until Woody or the guys get here."

Woody's father grumbled that it was a complete waste of time. "He was probably shooting at an animal. City boys panic at any kind of movement." I didn't feel like explaining why that wasn't even remotely true. Instead I led the way into the barn and began opening the few doors looking for a palm scanner like what he had at the house.

Woody's mother opened the room where the horses feed was stored and asked if the door and scanner at the back was important. I was so relieved to see it, knowing that I was right and we would need this place to hide. I went over and put my good hand on the scanner, but an error came up informing me to use the other hand. The brace was covering my palm so I had to take it off first. As I was trying to gently but quickly get my palm free I noticed the feeling of dread was growing.

I put my bruised hand on the scanner and smiled when it showed it was accepted and the door began to unlock and then open. Woody's parents both saw the purple and blue look of my hand and wrist and their eyes showed the shock they were feeling. Apparently they didn't realize just how severe my injuries were from yesterday.

I told them to go ahead in and I began to fumble with the brace trying to get it on and talk his father into the need to go into the panic room.

"I'll go if someone shows up, but I don't feel the need to hide like a scared child when there is clearly no danger here." He finally asserted. Great, now he was going to be stubborn. I tried to convince his mother at least to go in and she said she would go in and look around to see what it was like because she'd never been in there. She was clearly trying to make some peace with me and I appreciated her effort feeling a bit of relief when she disappeared through the door.

Just as I was about to try again with his father I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. That time Woody's father heard it too so I met his gaze with my own and commanded him, "Get in there and lock the door".

He followed my direction without any further complaint. I was unarmed so I decided I should follow him in there and we could figure out what to do once we were safely locked in.

I leaned against the door as soon as I heard the locks engage. Then I brought up the monitors and was pleased when I didn't need a password to turn them on and get access to the camera. I recognized the guy holding a service piece as Smith, one of the contract workers. He was talking so I kept hitting buttons until I found the sound for the stables. It was hard to hear him, but I was eventually able to get it to come through the speakers near the monitors so that we could all hear him.

"Stephanie, you need to come out. This will go so much easier if you come to me. I don't have a beef with anyone else here, so if you come out I will leave them alone." My silence must have been my answer so he upped the pressure by saying, "If you stay in there I can get in and pull you out shooting anyone else who is there."

His threat made me anxious. I couldn't allow him to hurt Woody's parents, but when Bertucci tried to get in to the panic room in the house he couldn't do it so I tried to convince myself he was bluffing. At the same time I looked around for a weapons safe, but came up empty handed.

Finally, Smith decided to pull out the big stops. "How about you come out or I let a little fire start which in all this dry hay and wood will probably spread pretty quickly. You'll be a lot easier to get to when the power is cut and the room is exposed on every side. The room was steel in every direction so I knew he couldn't get to us and his threats were idle. The horses were safe, but I still felt that I should keep him from burning the barn down.

I looked to Woody's parents wondering what I should do. Smith had one more thing to say that made the decision for me. "I could always just head in the direction they rode out and tell them something has happened to you. Then I could follow them back and shoot them down as they traveled. Their last thoughts would be that you were in trouble and they would die knowing they weren't able to save you."

I put my hand on the scanner and heard the doors begin to unlock. I looked back at his father and said, "Lock this door and don't open it unless Woody or I appear on the monitor and tells you it's clear."

For once the man didn't argue. Instead he lifted his pants leg and handed me a small Sig which I took and put at my back in the waist of my pants. As soon as I cleared the door I heard the reengage signal telling me his parents were locking themselves into safety.

I left the protection of the panic room and the feed closet and walked out to see Smith looking at me with a repulsed expression. "So you are the famous Bombshell. I never understood the attraction."

"You'll forgive me if I don't know who you are," I said at a loss about why he wanted me and I wanted to keep him talking without showing how terrified I was.

"You should know. You should know better than anyone else because you ran the background check on me when I applied to work at RangeMan. You made a recommendation that they only use me for contract work and not take me on as an employee. You ruined my plans and forced me to say on as a government contract worker going to Godforsaken shitholes around the world to kill people or save soldiers that weren't worth the full Army's full attention."

I wracked my brain trying to remember him but I was drawing a blank. On days that I ran background checks I might go through five to twenty depending on how in depth I had to go. "It's not ringing a bell; you'll have to give me a little more to work from if you want me to remember you."

"How about my name," He volunteered. "I am Alouicious Smith. Does it ring a bell now?"

It did. How does one forget a name like Aloicious. "I remember now," I told him.

The features of his face rearranged themselves into a sneer and he raised his gun. "Good, then you can tell me why you felt the need to ruin my career and then as a reward for your cooperation, I'll be sure you die quickly."

I swallowed hard thinking perhaps the small amount of lunch I just had wasn't a good idea.


	23. Changes in Attitude

_JE owns all the characters that are familiar. _

_Jenn(perfectmanhattan), thank you for providing your beta magic to this chapter. _

**Chapter 23 – Changes in Attitude**

My lunch was definitely churning now and I knew there was soon going to be a problem. My first thought was that I wanted to get to one of the feed buckets so that I didn't get sick on the ground again and leave a mess for someone else to have to clean up. Then I realized in the big scheme of what was happening right now, a little puke wasn't the most important thing for me to focus on.

Smith stepped closer with his gun still aimed at my head. "So what was it that turned you against me? Was my service in the military not enough? Was my credit history tainted? Were my previous employers not cooperative?" With each question he inched closer to me until the end of his gun was right next to my head.

Of course the added stress of him moving in on me was all it took for me to lose control of my stomach and my lunch suddenly began to come up. I heaved and was slightly satisfied when I realized some of it got on Smith. I tried not to look pleased at the thought, but I knew there was a little smug smile forming at the corners of my lips.

"Shit!" He exclaimed realizing I had ruined his boots and the lower twelve inches of his pants. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sorry," I croaked out when my body began to relax. I wasn't really, but my Burg manners forced me to say it.

"Enough of this, you're going to tell me what I want to know or I'm going to blow your head off here and now," He threatened.

I shut my eyes trying to remember all the details. "First of all," I began, "I don't make the decisions about who gets hired and who doesn't. All I do is run the required background check and highlight the pertinent information and then pass it along to the decision makers. I didn't tell them not to hire you."

"Cut the excuses," He interrupted while raising his free hand to make contact with my cheek. "I know they ran a check on me in Boston and said they wanted to hire me, but when you ran the same check suddenly I wasn't good enough to bring on payroll. I want to know what you found that Boston didn't."

That seemed like a fair question. I made a mental note if I survived today to talk to Tank or Ranger about the background procedures in all the offices. Theoretically we should all be pulling the same information, so it sounded like Boston needed some training. Shaking that thought away I tried to pull together everything I could from his background while putting my hand against my stinging face.

My legs were shaking so I pointed to a bench at the side of the stable and asked if I could sit down. Smith looked at the mess I'd made and probably figured it was good idea so he pointed from me to the bench and reminded me not to try anything funny. I felt a little stronger sitting down so I began to tell him what I could remember.

"I noticed that your credit history showed a lot of charges in multiple cities over short periods of time which indicated that you liked to travel. The jobs with RangeMan require you to be on-call most of the time, so you wouldn't be able to travel as much as you are used to," I said.

"That's bullshit. I was just trying to see all my old buddies one last time before I settled down in Jersey. You can't be serious that Manoso refused to hire me because of that," He complained.

"Your military record," I started to say but he jumped in.

"My record there is sealed," He stated as though that meant anything to RangeMan's background checks.

I blinked a few times trying to come up with the best wording for what I needed to disclose. "Your sealed record showed that you were commanded to complete psychiatric counseling after each of your last six missions. But, in further searching your record, that counseling was never sought or received. At RangeMan if you are given a command you would be expected to follow it. I believe the decision maker in Trenton took issue with that fact, not the need for the counseling."

"You're telling me that Manoso didn't hire me because my last missions went FUBAR because of poor planning and weak leadership and since I was ordered to see shrink he wouldn't hire me?" Smith asked growing furious.

"No," I corrected him. "The issue wasn't with the fact that the missions went badly and you were told to see someone, the problem was that you didn't go when ordered to do so. At RangeMan if you refuse to follow orders, lives can be lost and that isn't something we tolerate. No one can control what happens in the field and sometimes even the best laid plans fall apart, but if you are given a command there has to be a sense of trust that you will follow it regardless of what you think about it."

Smith continued to hold the gun at me but he took a few steps backwards. "You mean if I had gone to talk to the doc, then I would have been hired?"

"I'm saying that was the biggest roadblock to you being brought on as an employee so your chances would have been much greater if you had gone. But I can't guarantee it." I explained.

"I thought my record was sealed," He said with his arm lowering marginally.

"It is sealed from general public use, but with of the high number of employees at RangeMan that are from the military and the special working relationship we have with them because of the missions we occasionally run, we have a higher level of clearance." I offered hoping he would continue to lower his weapon.

"Then why was I good enough to use as a contract worker?" He asked raising his arm once more.

"Because you served with a few of the guys on staff who could vouch for your skills. So if the need arose where we needed extra bodies and there would be enough coverage form someone to overlap with you to insure the orders were carried out, then you could get the call," I told him.

"I can't believe that kept me from getting on board." He confessed letting his gun fall to his side. As soon as his eyes dropped from mine I stood up and walked toward him.

"You could have called and asked about this. You didn't need to go through such an elaborate system to hurt people," I knew I shouldn't make him angry again but I needed to get him talking to see if he would holster his gun.

"I was so sure that you had swayed the evidence against me; that it was your fault," He said as much to himself as to me.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked him when I was right in front of him.

Then I heard Bones' voice reply from right behind me, "He's going to put his gun on the ground and let you cuff his hands behind his back."

I spun around, both shocked to see Bones and thrilled to know he was alright. "Bomber, you can take the cuffs from my belt," He instructed me without taking his eyes from Smith.

I went over to Bones and took the cuffs like he said but before I stepped away I put my hand on his side and said, "I'm glad you're okay."

His eyes cut to me quickly and bounced back to Smith before he replied, "Kevlar caught it."

I realized Smith had already put his weapon on the ground and was standing in front of me now with his feet apart and his hands loosely behind his back. I felt badly for having to cuff him, but I knew that it was a good idea.

"I'm sorry to have to do this," I told him right after the first cuff clicked shut.

"I understand," He replied, "Following orders and all that."

When I was sure they were on him securely I picked up his gun and carried it to the bench where I had been sitting. Bones kept his gun on Smith while walking behind him to move Smith to the side of the barn opposite me.

Just as Bones holstered his own gun and added a second set of cuffs to secure Smith to the door of the barn, Woody and his sisters rode up laughing and obviously enjoying their time together.

I saw Woody's eyes quickly trying to assess what was going on. His eyes bounced between me, the mess on the floor, and finally Bones standing beside a handcuffed Smith. He jumped from his horse before it had stopped completely and came rushing to my side. He pushed the hair away from my face and asked what happened.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by the thought of how close I'd come to getting hurt once again and I flung my arms around Woody's shoulder crying against him, unable to stop.

At that moment I heard the locks from the panic room rumbling and knew that Woody's parents were coming out. If anything it only made me cry harder because I was in no mood to hear his father's criticism of how I handled Smith.

No one was more shocked than Woody when his father knelt down beside him and put a hand on my back to say, "Stephanie, you handled that well. I couldn't believe you didn't even hesitate when that man threatened to kill my children. You just willingly walked out as though it were no big deal. I couldn't have done that."

With his words of reconciliation spoken he called to his wife and they left us in the barn. Woody's sisters removed the saddles from the horses and led them to the open pasture to release them before following their parents out of the barn.

I heard Woody tell Bones to get the other contract workers and have them get Smith back to Ranger in Trenton and complete a report on everything that happened.

When we were alone Woody adjusted us so that he could sit down and pull me into his lap. He made soothing sounds and gently rubbed his hands up and down my back, but I couldn't stop with the hysteric sobbing until his thumb made its way to my neck. The circles he drew there seemed to soothe me and I slowly pulled myself together until I thought I could speak. "I'm sorry," I said against his shoulder.

"For what?" He asked unwilling to accept that I had anything to apologize for.

"For ruining your shirt," I said meekly.

Woody chuckled at that answer and replied, "If you're that worked up over it, I'll let you do the laundry at the house to clean it up."

I couldn't help but smile at his practical response to my concern. "I didn't say I wanted to do any laundry," I countered, "I'm just sorry that your shoulder is wet."

"Noted," He said while pulling me closer to him. His arms tightened making me think the gravity of what must have happened hit him.

With my head against his shoulder and his thumb still ministering to my neck I told him of everything that happened with Smith from the moment I saw something against the rocks until he arrived.

I left out the part about Smith slapping me, but when I finished Woody put his hand on my cheek and asked, "Do you want some ice for this?"

I should have known he wouldn't miss a thing. I shook my head no and said nothing more.

"Are you ready to go to the house?" He asked after the silence stretched for a few moments.

"Yea, I think I need to get a little snack and then I'll lie down for a while." I told him.

As we approached the back porch he asked if I'd let Bobby check me out before lying down. It made me remember that he and Hector hadn't answered their phones when I called earlier so I asked if they were alright.

No sooner had the words come out of my mouth when I felt Hector pull me away from Woody and into his arms. "You alright Chica?"

"I'm fine," I told him hoping that was true. "You know me; I just couldn't stand to have a day without any drama."

Hector's arms were strong and held me tightly against him. "Me and Bobby were in the room downstairs and the steel kept our phones from getting your call. I'm sorry."

I pulled back from him enough to get his attention. "This is not your fault. I doubt you could have gotten there much before Bones did anyway. I was just worried that he had hurt you and that's why you weren't answering. As long as you are alright, then I'm okay."

"Si," Hector replied. "I okay."

I smiled at him and then moved his hand to my stomach to tell him, "We're okay too." His face lit up at my sentence and he went back to his work downstairs.

When we entered the kitchen all conversation stopped. I usually hated it when that happened, but just this once I wasn't in the mood to make a big deal over it so I looked around wondering what I could have to eat.

Woody asked what I wanted and I had no idea. I wasn't exactly hungry but I felt weak so I thought I should try something. "Do we have anymore of Stella's soup leftover?" I wondered.

His sisters flew into action as soon as the words came out of my mouth. While they bustled to the fridge and stove, his mother brought me a coke over ice and told me to have a seat at the bar and they'd have lunch ready in a jiffy.

I was surprised when Woody's Dad didn't get up to walk away when I sat down. "I think I owe you an apology," He said when I gathered enough courage to look at him.

"For what?" I wondered, hoping this wasn't some ploy to act penitent but really insult me in the process.

"For jumping to conclusions about you. You've got spunk and if you're going to make it in a relationship with my son you're going to need that in spades." He explained.

While I was happy that he seemed to be accepting me I was still irritated at his insistence on insulting Woody. "I think people that know us would say that Woody will need the spunk to survive a life with me, not the other way around."

His dad smiled slightly, but no dimple showed that would have linked him to his children. "Maybe we should compromise and say that you two are well suited to each other then."

I considered his words for a minute and then agreed, "I think that's right."

Woody's hand was on my back moving slowly up and down while this interchange took place. When his father turned his attention to Woody and asked, "So when should we expect to get our invitation to the wedding?"

Woody's hand instantly stopped moving and I turned to look at him. We smiled at each other at the same time. Personally I hoped we could get married privately and then announce after it was done, but we had been interrupted this morning before we had a chance to discuss it.

Woody's eyes narrowed briefly as though he was considering how to answer before saying, "We'll send you something, but I don't know if it will be an invitation or an announcement."

His sisters stopped moving and Liddy said, "But you have to have a big wedding back in Texas so everyone can be there."

Woody quickly countered, "Why is my family more important than Steph's? Her friends and family are in Jersey so if we were going to do a big wedding it would be there." I was pleased with his answer and it seemed to quiet everyone down.

I finished half of the soup and decided that was enough just as Bobby came upstairs with his medic bag in hand. The three of us walked upstairs to our room and I sighed in relief when the door closed behind us. I felt safe again and fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Woody noticed, of course and placed a kiss on my head before guiding me to sit on the side of the bed.

Bobby performed his usual checks for my blood pressure, pulse and even pulled out a Doppler receiver to listen for the babies heartbeats. He saw my questioning look and explained, "Liddy gave it to me this morning and explained what to listen for and what various shifts in rates would indicate." He looked like a kid with a new toy. While I appreciated her generosity, I wondered how practical it was as a gift for Bobby. I seriously doubted there would be many other occasions for its use.

I let out a big breath when the first heartbeat came through the speaker. It was a beautiful sound. Then he moved it to the other side and easily found the second heartbeat. I was relieved to know they were both safe inside me. "Everything looks okay for now, but I'd really like it if you'd consider spending a little time in bed. Your blood pressure is slightly elevated and I'd like your body to have a chance to rest and recover from the stress of the day.

I think I surprised him when I agreed to his suggestion. Bobby placed a kiss on my curls before seeing himself out.

I toed off my shoes and pulled my legs up to stretch out. I was lost in my own little world with how good it felt to lay down in the bed. It was so soft and comfortable that I couldn't help but moan. Woody heard it and crawled in bed behind me to ask, "Did you tell Bobby you would go to sleep, or just that you would stay in bed?"

I laughed at his implication and moved back to spoon up next to him. "Right now I intend to take a nap, and then I'm going to stay in bed." I know he stayed with me because I felt his thumb begin to make circles on my neck which pushed me over the edge to sleep.

When I awoke it was darker in the room, but the sun was not completely gone. I rolled over and was disappointed to see the bed was empty beside me. I sat up and looked around the room and then smiled when I saw Woody sitting in a chair in the corner by the window. I couldn't read his expression so I asked what was wrong.

"I went downstairs while you sleeping and watched the tapes from the barn this afternoon." Woody moved from his chair to kneel on the floor beside me on the bed. "My father essentially criticized you and when you felt like you were pressed into a corner, he didn't even check up on you. He stayed hidden in the room while Smith threatened to kill you. He did nothing to protect you." He explained sounding like he was barely containing his fury.

I didn't want to reopen this can of worms so I put my hand against Woody's cheek and said, "What could he have done? I was determined to leave that room to protect you and your sisters and he needed to stay with your mother. Besides, it looks like he understands us a little better, so something good came out of it."

Woody's jaw tightened. "He was critical and then he took the coward's way out. What good would his understanding be to me if something had happened to you?" Woody moved so that his face was hidden on the bed and his head was against my stomach.

My fingers made tracks through his hair and we stayed that way for a few minutes, each taking comfort in the fact that we were both okay and unharmed. Eventually he pulled back and asked, "How's your arm?"

I made a face and explained, "Now that you mention it, it's throbbing. But during the day I was so distracted that I didn't even notice it."

Woody didn't waste a second before jumping up and going into the bathroom to return with a glass of water and a few Advil. I tool the pain reliever willingly and handed the glass back to him. When he returned to the bed he laid down next to me and with no delay kissed me thoroughly. Taking a brief pause, he asked, "How's the hand now?"

"What hand?" I asked bringing my lips back to his. Woody fell backward pulling me on top of him without breaking our kiss. I thought back to this morning when I made him promise to finish what he started. I hoped this was his way of fulfilling that promise.

I pressed against him loving the feel of the friction between our bodies. I loved the feel of him responding to me physically and suddenly became consumed with the need to be connected to him completely.

I moved my mouth down his neck being generous with kisses down to his collarbone. Woody growled which only encouraged me to keep going by untucking his shirt to get access to his chest.

Just as my hands worked up his sculpted abs there was a knock at the door. This time it was my turn to complain. "Is someone injured?"

"No," Came a voice that I figured belonged to one of his sisters.

"Bleeding?" I pressed on.

"No," Was the response with a little laughter added to it.

"Is there some other critical emergency?" I offered as a final option.

"No," This time two voices replied.

Woody decided to settle it once and for all. "Then go away!"

This resulted in a lot of laughter. "Dinner's ready," They announced. "Mom said we can't eat until Stephanie is at the table."

I collapsed against his chest which was shaking with laughter. "I should shoot them now, because they'll only keep coming back until you get downstairs, or we can give up having any privacy until they leave in the morning."

I sat up realizing we were doomed to be celibate until we were in the house alone. "Let's go," I said not feeling any enthusiasm at all about the meal.

Woody took my hand to walk downstairs with me and whispered near my ear, "We can wait through dinner, but I can tell you right now, I can't wait until they're gone in the morning. We will eat politely and then excuse ourselves to get some more rest because if I'm not inside you with the next two hours I'm pretty sure I'm going hurt somebody."

Fortunately his grip on my hand was tight because my knees buckled slightly at his words and I felt the buzz of anticipation begin to build within me.

I teased back, "You know I'm not very hungry, it might not take me an hour to be ready for bed. I hope you're okay with an early turn in tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," came his immediate response.


	24. Better Understanding

_None of the characters are mine. I took them from JE._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thank you once again for your masterful Beta skills. _

**Chapter 24 – Better Understanding**

I sat down in the chair Woody pulled out for me and allowed him to scoot me up to the table. When I looked down I realized the plates had already been served by Woody's Mother but I had no idea what it was. There appeared to be rice with some kind of fried meat, topped with a brown gravy loaded with onions. There were long green beans on the side with little bits of what looked like bacon in them and there was a biscuit on the side of the plate.

Everyone seemed to be staring at me so I picked up my fork and tried to get some of the white rice up that wasn't Mothered in the thick gravy. My first bite seemed to appease everyone and they began talking over each other and eating so that I was no longer the center of attention. Woody leaned over and told me, "It's called country fried steak. I think you'll like it, but if not I can get you a peanut butter sandwich."

I was relieved to at least know what the mystery meat was so I cut into it and was surprised at how fork tender it was. I took a small bite in case my stomach rebelled, but when I began to chew I was thrilled by the combination of tastes in my mouth. I hastily took another bite that had rice, meat and gravy in it and moaned as soon as my teeth sank into it.

I looked over to Woody and noticed him look at his watch before whispering, "You've got less than an hour to get that plate clean and make your excuses or I may take you right here."

I nearly choked when Liddy said, "None of that, if you have something to say you can tell us all."

I suddenly realized what he meant when he told me his sisters were like little Mothers too. I turned red instantly at her comment but Woody just smiled and shook his head. I enjoyed the feel of the conversation around me. The food being passed around and the raising of voices occasionally made me miss my own family. I was struck by just how much Woody and I had in common. My Mother and his Father were a match made in heaven. His Mother seemed kind enough, but she didn't stand up to his Dad and seemed to just keep quiet to avoid confrontation. The resemblance between her and my Father was striking as well. Of course Valerie liked to boss me around but that isn't the same thing as treating me like a child so I couldn't really relate to his sisters except that I had plenty of people in my life who seemed to think their opinion of what I should do was the most important one.

As the food began to disappear the conversation died down and Woody's Mother asked for assistance clearing the table so that she could get dessert. I stood up to help, but Woody's Dad caught me off guard by saying, "Stephanie, why don't you and I take a little walk while they get the coffee and dessert ready." He phrased it as a question, but he said it as though he had no doubt his suggestion would be followed.

Woody spoke up, "Dad, I don't think that's a good idea."

His Father turned around instantly, obviously not pleased with his son for challenging him. "I'm not going to hurt her, or make her march for miles. We're just going to the porch."

It was obvious that Woody didn't care about the geography; rather he didn't want his Father to have another opportunity to be rude or cruel to me. I appreciated his concern, but something in me knew I needed to hear what he had to say. I put my hand on Woody's arm and said, "I'll go with your Dad, I'm sure I'll be fine. Why don't you remind your Mom I can only drink decaf coffee." Woody looked at me briefly, but seeing that I had made up my mind he nodded and turned to find his Mother.

Just before he got to the kitchen I said, "Hector is around, right?"

Woody smiled giving me a brief glimpse of that sexy dimple and pulled out his phone saying, "He will be."

I walked over to Woody's Father and followed him through the house to the front porch. We sat in rocking chairs facing each other. The chair was comfortable which surprised me since it was just wood with no cushion. I found that I was unable to keep from rocking and the slight squeak of the wood was soothing.

"If you and Woody are going to have a life together, you need to know a few things about him," His Father began. I was already put off by his tone, as though he could tell me anything about Woody that would change how I felt about him.

"I always wanted a son," He started, "But after the girls were born I assumed that wasn't meant to be and threw myself into my work. I figured my wife could tend to raising the girls and that my input wasn't necessary."

I wanted to tell him that a Father is every bit as important to a daughter as he is to a son, but I didn't think he would appreciate being corrected.

"When my wife told me she was pregnant again I assumed it would be another girl so I made no changes to my life. I'd been at the bank for a long time and had worked my way up to the corporate office in management. It was a fulfilling job where I was appreciated and respected so I didn't really welcome the news of another baby the way I should have." He told me looking away from my face to the night sky.

When his attention shifted from me I noticed something moving to the side of the porch but before I could panic or get up I realized it was Hector with his finger over his lips telling me to stay quiet. I relaxed instantly knowing he was there. Theoretically there was not a threat to my life any longer, but I still felt better knowing there was someone trustworthy to watch over me. By the time a smile came to my face Hector had disappeared from my view, but I knew he had not gone anywhere. I could feel his protection close to me.

"When Woody was born I was away at a conference. My wife called me and told me we had a son a few hours after he was born. I felt a great deal of pride at knowing I finally had an heir, but when she asked if I could come back home to see them I refused to leave my coworkers. I'm sure that hurt her, but at the time I didn't see why it would be necessary so I went to the bar and had a drink to celebrate and returned back to Texas five days later."

I noticed my hands were gripping the armrests of the chair and I made a conscious effort to try and relax them to let go of the anger that was building over how Woody had been so unimportant to his Father as a newborn.

"When I got home and held my son I realized he looked very little like me which was a disappointment. I knew my wife had been faithful because he was the spitting image of his sisters so I didn't say anything about it. But when I asked her what his name was I was furious when she said Woodrow. I had assumed she would name him for me, but instead she gave him her own Father's name."

I couldn't help but smile wondering if it had been a passive aggressive attempt to show him how she felt about his work coming first over her and the baby.

"My Father-in-law was an honorable man, but he was a simple rancher. He raised cattle and horses and practically lived outside. From the Moment Woody was born, that boy spent every Moment possible by his grandFather's side. He learned to hunt and fish, to ride and rope, and to live with a code of honor that was not the same as my own. Plus Woodrow taught him Spanish, which I don't speak so anytime they were together not only were they in their own world but I couldn't understand a damn thing they said."

Well, at that explained how Woody was fluent in Spanish.

"When Woody was twelve I tried to assert my influence in his life. I tried to talk to him about money, and investing and power, but by then he thought his grandFather hung the moon and I was just the person who told him what to do."

I wanted to tell him that you couldn't repair twelve years of neglect in a single conversation, but decided that he'd probably stop talking if he thought I was judging him so I bit my tongue and stayed quiet.

"About ten years ago my wife's Father died. Woody's tour of duty was over and I assumed that he would come back to Texas. I figured that since I was no longer competing with Woodrow for my son's attention that we could work together and maybe Woody would finally take the job at the bank that I wanted him to have."

I didn't need him to tell me the next part. Even though Woody and I had never discussed it, Woody working in a bank made about as much sense as me trying to do rocket science. It just wasn't going to happen.

"My Father-in-law's ranch had been mortgaged to the hilt so even though he left it to Woody upon his death, the bank foreclosed and reclaimed the property as payment on the loan. Woody was devastated and associated the bank taking the ranch as me doing it to him. He immediately signed on for another tour with the Army and swore he would never come back to live in Texas. The next time I spoke to him he'd taken a job in New Jersey and was doing contract work with the government where he went on missions that were likely to bring him home in a box if he came home at all. I tried everything I could to talk him out of it, but he flat out refused."

"I tried to figure out how Woodrow would have felt about it and tried to use that angle to convince him. I knew that Woodrow had hoped Woody would have a wife of his own one day and a couple of kids to raise so I used that to try and guilt him into returning home. After all, if he wanted to honor his grandFather then he needed to do something with his life that would put to use all the things he learned from him."

My hands were gripping the armrests again. Guilt as a motivator seemed to be something else my Mother and Woody's Father had in common.

"That was the last conversation Woody and I had before we arrived a few days ago. Woody essentially told me to go to hell, that he didn't need to come to Texas to find a wife and that he was capable of raising a family in Jersey that would fulfill his grandFather's wishes."

That helped me to relax a little. I was getting a little worried that when the babies were born that Woody might want to take us to Texas for them to grow up the way he had. I didn't want to live in the Burg, but I didn't exactly want to leave Jersey either.

"Then my wife gets a call from Stella who tells us her little brother has a girlfriend who is at his house in Virginia. The girls and my wife decided that they should come up here to meet you and visit with Woody. I figured I would come along too because I saw it as a way to remind my son that he needed to come back to Texas. I figured if I could point out how different he and his new girlfriend were then he would see the only way he could get a wife that shared his values was to come back with us."

I expected to feel offended at his comment, but somehow it only brought up feelings of pity for the man in front of me; the man who for over thirty years had refused to get to know his son and now had no idea who he was and how to relate to him.

"I was so hell bent on showing everyone that you were not the right woman for my son that I damn near got you killed within ten minutes of first meeting you. Then I was blind to what had really happened so that I too pigheaded to learn from my mistake the first time and nearly repeated it the next day. Now I've had a little time to think about it, and I've listened to my wife and daughters who have told me that I was a stubborn ass. I can see a lot of the same traits in you that Woody most admired in his grandFather."

Now my curiosity was piqued, "What traits do I share with his grandFather?"

"You're accepting of everybody. Hell, you even felt guilty about having to put handcuffs on the man who had threatened to kill you only Moments earlier once you had heard his story. Everybody gravitates to you because you're comfortable with yourself. And I haven't seen you say or do a single harsh or judgmental thing in the whole time I've been around you."

I didn't think I should tell him that a couple of days hardly made him an expert about my behavior. Especially since he may not have seen me do anything harsh, but in my mind I had played out at least a dozen ways to shut him up when he was being cruel to Woody.

"I don't have a relationship with my son to be able to tell him this, but I want him to know. You two seem good for each other. My wife and daughters are convinced that you two will be happy and I figure they know more about that stuff than I do."

"Why don't you tell him that?" I couldn't help but interrupt.

He smiled at me but there was no humor in his expression. "Hell, it's hard enough for me to tell you. There's no way I could tell him. I guess I'm hoping that the two of you will have one of those relationships like his grandparents did. They were perfectly suited for each other; one was the completion of the other. My wife and I are compatible and our marriage works because of the respect we have for each other, but if something happened to me she would mourn, but move on. When my Mother-in-law died I thought Woodrow would follow her to the grave. I'm convinced the only reason he didn't was because Woody was born and it gave him just enough to live for, but he never stopped mourning his wife. His heart was never the same. I've watched Woody, and he looks at you like that."

His words were comforting because that's how I felt about Woody. So quickly my heart had grown to feel like it needed to be near Woody's in order to work. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I was caught off guard by his next words.

"I'm telling you that to say that you need to be careful. I understand you seem to have a good bit of experience with deranged people after you and sometimes you aren't so good at letting other people protect you. I'm pretty sure that Woody admired you because of that independent streak, but you need to remember what it would do to him if one of those crazy people ever got a hold of you and took you from him. I don't think he'd be able to go on."

I wanted to argue with him, but when I reversed his argument and thought about how I would react if something happened to Woody I realized I needed to take my own safety a little more seriously. It wasn't just about being careful for the next nine months to protect the unborn babies I was carrying. I would need to be careful for the rest of life in order to protect Woody from the grief that would consume him if I let something happen to me that could have been avoided. I owed that to Woody because I was going to expect the same thing from him.

"Anyway, I didn't call you out here to babble like a woman," He said with his attention beginning to turn back to me and away from his memories. "I just wanted to be sure that you knew that even thought I don't really understand my son, I do love him. And, if there is ever a time that you or Woody need anything I hope you know that you can call on me. I rarely promise things, but when I do, my word is my seal. I promise I'll do anything in my power to help you or Woody when you need me."

I thanked him for the offer, feeling the sincerity in his words. I wasn't sure how Woody would respond to what he was saying, but I believed him. When we both stood up I put my hand on his lower arm causing him to stop walking and turn to look at me. I guessed that he wasn't used to being touched. Thinking back quickly I couldn't remember ever seeing his children touch him while we've been here.

I decided if he was going to accept me, he needed to know that I accepted him. Not being good with words I decided to hug him and let my actions speak for me. I put my arms around his neck and tightly held myself to him. He stood stiffly for a second or two before awkwardly putting his arms around my waist and hugging me back.

When I stepped back he looked away as though he were embarrassed about what just happened. "Thank you for talking to me tonight. It's helped me to understand your and Woody's relationship better." I told him.

"When the babies come, I hope you'll let us be a part of their life. I think I'll make a better grandFather than I did a Dad. I guess I learned a trick or two along the way I'm finally ready to put into practice." He replied while opening the screen door to let us join the rest of the family.

Woody stood up as soon as we entered the den and came over to where I was. He pulled me to him in a tight embrace I assume to see for himself that I was unharmed after spending time with his Father. I couldn't help myself when our bodies touched I whispered, "I love you."

Woody tightened his hold on me obviously mistaking my words as a response to the conversation I'd just had as though his Father had upset me in some way. I felt his phone vibrate with a text message which Woody read without letting go of me. I felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter and he nudged me to look at his phone. The message was in Spanish so I was clueless about what it said. Woody translated, "Hector said that you charmed my Dad and won him over. He thinks the Stephanie Plum fan club might have a new member in the great state of Texas."

Picturing Hector saying that was funny to me so I joined in his laughter. "Come on," Woody guided me back over to where his family said eating something out of little bowls. "My Mom made some banana pudding and I saved you some."

I remembered sharing some banana pudding with Woody on our first date in his apartment. I loved it and wondered if his Mother's version would be that good.

Woody must have noticed my silent thought because he handed me a bowl and a spoon and said, "It's better."

I took a bite and moaned, realizing he was right. This could give my Mother's pineapple upside down cake a run for its money as my favorite dessert. It only took a few Moments for my spoon to begin scraping the bottom of the bowl leaving me wishing for more.

I couldn't help but notice after my talk with his Dad that the conversation was a little more lively and I felt more included. We stayed in the den until the clock on the mantel chimed that it was nearing midnight. Woody saw me yawn and announced that I needed to get some rest. His family needed to leave by 6:00 the next morning and I silently wondered how sick I would be if I tried to get up to see them off.

Fortunately Liddy spoke up and said, "Steph, I've talked to Bobby and given him some suggestions to help you through the next couple of months until you begin to get more energy and the morning sickness goes away. I'm pretty sure he can take care of any questions you might have. But in the morning, we are all going to be really angry if you try to get up to see us off. It will make you feel better if you try to get at least eight hours of rest each night and we don't want to make you sick just to say goodbye."

I wanted to disagree but before I had a chance to say anything his sisters were hugging me, saying goodbye and wishing me luck over the next few months. We all promised to stay in touch and by the time we made it upstairs it was pushing 1:00. I was exhausted.

Woody pushed me into the bathroom and instructed me to get ready for bed. I wanted to tell him I was still awake enough for us to take advantage of our Moment alone, but deep down I knew I was too tired to enjoy it now.

When I came out of the bathroom Woody was standing there in just his jeans. His shirt and socks were in the hamper and the sight of his bare feet and chest began to wake me up a little. Woody laughed and said, "No way, not tonight. You're exhausted and when we finally come together again I want to be able to take my time and enjoy every single inch of you." Then he winked at me and began to walk in the bathroom before calling over his shoulder, "Besides, by the time we wake up in the morning, my family will be gone."

I understood what he meant and smiled. We could be alone in our room without worrying about his family knocking on the door. "Tomorrow then," I said and smiled when he repeated, "Tomorrow."

I feel asleep the second my head hit the pillow. The next thought I had was confusion over hearing multiple male voices. They were low enough that in my groggy state I couldn't make out their words but there was an urgency to their discussion.

I felt the covers being moved down slightly and multiple hands touching me. My eyes blinked open and I looked into three very worried faces. "What's wrong?" I asked scared instantly at what was causing them such concern.

Bobby was the first to speak. "It's nearly dinner time. You've been sleeping for over sixteen hours and when Woody tried to wake you he wasn't able to. I've come up a couple of times to check on you and all your vitals seemed fine so we've just assumed that you were so worn out from the last few days that you needed the rest, but it was getting late enough that we were considering a trip to the hospital to see if something had happened that I couldn't figure out."

I shook my head, telling them, "I'm fine. I was just so tired last night that I must have needed the extra rest."

"Do you think you can get up?" Bobby asked.

I nodded realizing that even if I didn't want to, my bladder definitely needed me to. They helped me sit up easily but as soon as I stood my stomach rolled and I took off to the bathroom, barely getting there in time to get sick. I shivered when I was finished so Woody put a robe around me and rubbed my back until I was ready to get up.

Even I noticed how pale my face was when I looked in the mirror. I could see why the guys were worried, I looked like shit. "What's wrong with me?" I asked to no one in particular.

"I'm pretty sure you're dehydrated because of getting sick so much and not being able to eat or drink as much as you needed. Add to that the stress of the last few days and you're body is struggling to provide for the babies and you both." Bobby explained.

I gripped the counter at the sink to keep from falling over when I got dizzy all of a sudden. "Do I just need to drink a little more?" I asked.

"That will help, but I want to start an IV to speed it along a little. If I'm right, then a bag of fluids will help you tremendously and you'll begin to feel better quickly. If it has no effect then we can talk about what to do then." Bobby told me.

I kept one hand on the counter and put the other over my stomach, even with the brace between us I felt like I was more connected to them with a hand over their home. Damn it, I'd tried so hard to protect the babies from the danger over the last few days and it seemed like I was the one who was failing them anyway. Woody shut the door to the bathroom effectively blocking Bobby's view and pulled me to him.

"Stop it, Steph," He demanded getting my full attention. "Let's go downstairs and stretch out on the couch together. Bobby can put a line in and you can have some dinner with us while we watch a movie. By the time the movie is over you'll feel better and see that this is what you needed to help you and our little guys in there." He finished while putting a hand on my stomach.

I chose to believe his optimistic words and challenged him by saying, "What if they aren't guys? What if they're girls?"

His sexy smile took over his face and he replied, "As long as they are just like their Mother, then I'll be a happy Daddy." I loved how he used the tender term Daddy to refer to himself.

"Okay, Let's go watch a movie," I said letting him know I was okay with his plan. Woody told me to freshen up while he stepped out to tell Bobby the plan. When I walked out of the bathroom I was feeling a little shaky still, but overall I felt better.

Woody smiled when he saw I had slipped on the sweatpants he left for me, but instead of putting on the shirt he picked out I had pulled his long sleeve t-shirt from the day before over my head and rolled the sleeves on the one arm leaving the other bunched up over the brace.

"I love the outfit," He joked. "You look so sexy in my clothes Steph."

I knew I was far from sexy at the Moment. I hadn't even tried to control my hair I just tied it back to keep it away from my face. I had brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face, but I had no make up on and despite my sleeping marathon I still had some puffy bags under my eyes. I looked like I'd been on an all night binge so I didn't feel like his words rang true right now.

Woody pulled me to him and corrected me. "Sexy has very little to do with your appearance. It's an attitude. It's the way that you are comfortable in your own skin, and how you are secure enough in our relationship to put on my shirt without asking. Besides, when your hair is back I have better access to your neck, which I plan on kissing and touching through most of the movie."

Before I could come up with a snappy comeback he had swept me off my feet and carried me down the stairs. He sat me on the couch and Hector put a plate in my lap that had some sort of chicken and rice dish that smelled delicious. I hardly noticed Bobby pulling my free arm to the side and it wasn't until I felt the prick of the needle that I realized he was putting the IV in right now. In this case, ignorance was bliss so I focused on my plate instead of what he was doing and before I knew it he announced I was set.

"By the time the movie is over, you should be well on your way to being rehydrated and I think you'll be able to feel the difference. Once we get you better we can talk about how to keep you that way." I nodded understanding what he said, but trying not to think about the needle he had just put in my arm.

Woody slid in place behind me and pulled me over so that I was leaning against him. When he aimed the remote at the television I asked what we were watching. "True Grit, Darlin', I need to be sure you have watched all of the greatest movies ever made, and this John Wayne classic is definitely on that list."

I figured it didn't matter what the movie was, I was just happy to have a plate of delicious food and Woody's hard body to lean into. What was on the screen was of little importance to me. Of course within the first ten minutes I was drawn in and by the time the credits rolled I was a fan.

"You like the one-eyed cowboy?" Hector asked when Woody switched it off.

"I did," I confessed stretching my hands above my head.

Bobby came over and checked me out looking pleased with all his checks. "Your pressure is better, your pulse is now steady, your skin isn't pinching up from dehydration, and your color is much better. I think we can take this out and not worry anymore."

I thanked Bobby for his care, stopping his work to put my hand over his. "This is far beyond just watching out for an employee of RangeMan."

Bobby touched my face and admitted, "I don't do this for RangeMan; I do it for you. It would break my heart if something happened to you. And now that there are babies coming that are a part of you, we're all excited about how that will impact us and pull us even more into a family."

I thanked him once more and he smiled, "Of course if you two had taken my advice over the last week and gone to sleep instead of going at it like rabbits you might not have been so exhausted and gotten yourself so worn down."

I turned red and Woody laughed. "Seriously man, your sister put me in the room right beneath you too. Either take it easy on Steph or let me have the room next to Hector."

It was so nice to hear the guys laughing. It felt like it had been such a long time since there had been a reason to relax enough to laugh. I loved it.

Woody raised an eyebrow at me and told Bobby, "Why don't you gather up your stuff and move upstairs. We don't need to you cover the first floor for security reasons anymore, and after that sleep-a-thon Steph went on, I don't think she'll be tired for a while."

I understood what Woody was implying and while I smacked his chest as though I were upset, at heart I knew he was right. I wasn't the least bit sleepy now and after eating I wasn't feeling weak anymore either. It was only 10:00 but it seemed we were heading upstairs for bed so I had to assume Woody wasn't expecting us to go to sleep.

Just before we started up the stairs Woody went over to Bobby and said something softly which made Bobby smile and then nod his head. Whatever Bobby said in return made Woody's face light up. I was curious, but didn't want to interrupt their discussion. It was too much fun to watch them talk so at ease with each other.

After we made it upstairs Woody shut the door and then locked it. I tried to raise an eyebrow at the extra step of protection and he said, "I want to be damn sure that we aren't interrupted again. I've had to put the breaks on so many times over the last few days I'm not sure I can do it again, and I definitely don't want to give anybody a show."

I loved where his mind was going and my hormones began to do a little happy dance.

Woody toed off his socks so that he was barefooted and my hormones went from a dance to jumping up and down.

"You know, the guys are going to be here all day tomorrow, but then they'll probably head back to Trenton the day after that." Woody said walking up behind me to pull me closer to him so that his mouth could run down my neck.

"How soon do you want to get married?" He asked with his warm breath blowing against my skin.

"Soon," I answered realizing I'd probably agree to let the minister in right now if he would just keep him mouth on my neck.

Then he decided to play dirty and moved one hand up to my neck rubbing those irresistible circles and moving his lips to the shell of my ear. "Stella said there's a justice of the peace that's a good friend of hers and he could come over to the house tomorrow afternoon and marry us here before the guys leave for home."

"What time?" I asked, causing him to pause as though he hadn't expected that response.

"How about 5:00? We could get married by sunset, and then have a nice dinner to celebrate," He offered.

I considered it briefly and couldn't think of a single reason to say no. More important than that, I could only think of reasons to say yes. "That sounds perfect."

"Are you sure you want to do this here? Are there people in Trenton you wish could be here?" He offered.

I stretched my neck to the side as an invitation for him to keep up the sensual kisses he was planting on my skin. "I definitely don't want my family there. I'll miss Les, but he'll understand as long as he's one of the first people we tell when we get back." Then I spun around to put my arms around his neck. "I'm ready to be your wife. I don't care about the ceremony, I just want the world to know you're mine and I'm yours."

"You got it, Darlin'," He told me before slipping into the bathroom to freshen up for bed. I used the time to slip out of my sweat pants and panties. I was just about to find some lingerie when the door opened and Woody stepped out in his boxers, put his cell phone on the night stand and then stalked over to where I was frozen still absorbed with watching him move.

"Are you sure you feel up to this?" He asked giving me another chance to back out.

I kissed him forcefully hoping he would understand what I wanted. When he pulled away just long enough to quickly take off the shirt I was still wearing I had to assume the message was received loud and clear.

A few hours later, I once again heard the clock chime 1:00, but this time instead of feeling exhausted, I just felt satisfied and whole. Tomorrow I would be Woody's wife and that brought back the feeling I first felt with Woody in Trenton. I was content.


	25. Wedding Bells

_JE gets all the credit for the wonderful characters I'm playing with._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) thanks once again for your Beta work. You're amazing!_

**Chapter 25 – Wedding Bells**

When I woke up the next day someone was playing with my hair but it didn't feel like Woody. I figured I wasn't in any danger since the bad guys didn't usually handle me so gently so I just said, "Morning," as a test to see who was there.

"Good Morning, Beautiful," Came a familiar voice that made me roll over and open my eyes.

I put my arms around Lester's neck to convince myself that he was really there and I wasn't just dreaming it. Of course the sudden movement and abrupt wake up made me end the hug quickly to dash off to the bathroom.

Les walked up behind me as soon as I finished getting sick. "I'm sorry this is still going on. I'd hoped when you were finally able to relax a little that it might go away."

I brushed my teeth and splashed my face before trying to respond. "I'm pretty sure I'll have to put up with it for a few more weeks at least, but there are things I can do to make it better. I just haven't been able to take it easy lately with Bertucci and Smith lurking about." I wondered if he knew everything that had happened while I was here, but the cold blank face that slammed down and the white, tightly gripped knuckles of his fist told me he had been briefed.

I walked over to Lester and hugged him gently this time, happy to feel him melt and relax back into my friend. "Steph, we are so sorry about everything that happened here. Bones came back yesterday and told us all about it. You were amazing…you always are." He said before laughing a little and adding, "Bones has been bugging Ranger to have him hired on and permanently assigned to work as your partner. That drew a lot of complaints that if you were going to get a partner some of us with more seniority wanted the chance to be considered over a contract worker."

"Don't I get a say in whether or not I'll get a partner?" I teased.

"You certainly do, but if you're going to work in sales the way Tank and Ranger want you to, you will definitely have a partner whenever you go out so that you can focus on the task at hand and your partner can watch out for you." Les explained.

I shook my head trying to remember that it wasn't that long ago that Les and I went out on a sales call together. "How are things between you and Marina?"

Les' whole face lit up in a way I'd not seen before. "She's great; told me to tell you congratulations."

"You are so not going to leave it there," I warned him, taking his hand and pulling him over to the bed to sit down, "Spill."

"We've been out three times since you left, if you count lunch as going out." He began. We had lunch after the party, and then she asked if I wanted to have dinner a couple nights later. Then the next day I ran into her, literally, while I was responding to a false alarm at a client's office. We talked for a bit on the street, but since it was close to dinnertime we moved from the sidewalk to a nearby restaurant and stayed there for a couple of hours just talking and having fun."

"Then that means you've had five or six dates and you still haven't…" I stopped not sure what kind of descriptive I should use for sex.

"No Beautiful, we haven't," He said with a serious tone instead of a joke like I expected. "But when I get back in town I think we probably will. I kissed her after our first dinner together and it was electric. I can't imagine what it will be like if it builds on that kind of beginning."

I completely understood what he meant. "You seem happy," I told him.

He took my hand in his and said, "I am. I think you might have shown me a few things by being my friend and accepting me for who I am. Marina is a lot like you in that respect." Then his demeanor switched from serious to joking when he added, "But there is the one difference where I always thought of you in as a sister, there is nothing about Marina that inspires those kinds of feelings."

"In that case, I'm happy for you. I can't wait to see you together again." I said.

Les touched my nose, "There will plenty of time for that, but I believe we have to get you ready for a wedding first."

It suddenly hit me that I had agreed to get married today and a bigger question came to mind, "How did you get here?"

Lester laughed at how quickly my mind was suddenly spinning. "Woody called me last night about 10:00 and said you two were going to get hitched today and that he thought it would mean a lot to you if I was here. So, I had a little chat with Ella and then I got in my truck and drove through the night to get here. Of course, if I'd known you were going to sleep so late I might have taken a nap first."

That explained why Woody took his cell phone into the bathroom last night. Then something else he said struck me, "Why did you talk to Ella first?"

"Because Woody thought you might want something besides the jeans you brought to wear tonight and Ella had just the thing," He explained.

At first I was relived. Somehow I had completely forgotten about the fact that I didn't have anything to wear. And Ella had dressed me enough for me to know whatever she pulled together would be perfect. "Does that mean that everyone at RangeMan knows?"

"No, I didn't tell a soul what was going on, only that I was coming down to get Bobby and Hector since you and Woody were going to stay here a few days longer until you have your arm checked out again by Dr. Murray." He explained.

"Does Ranger know about me and Woody?" I asked not sure what I wanted the answer to be.

"No, at least not definitively. He most certainly doesn't know about the baby. He probably suspects something on Woody's part, but I doubt he has any idea about how you feel. Seeing you married will be a shock to him." Les told me.

"Is that fair to him? I mean, shouldn't someone tell him so that he doesn't freak out when he sees that we're married and I'm pregnant?" I wondered.

Les spoke quickly, "I'm sure someone should tell him, but none of us want to be there when he reacts to the news. We all agree that it will be best for you to tell him in person when you come back home. I mean, he can't call you to the mats and he can't do anything to make you change your mind."

"I guess you've got a point, but it still fells wrong somehow. Like we're all sneaking around trying to keep him out of the loop," I countered.

"You can feel free to call him, but I'm not going to tell him," Les summed up like he was issuing a playground dare.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied. "At least not now; today I only want to think about Woody and my friends that are here to celebrate with us."

"That's my girl," He said tussling my hair. "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I did tell Marina about the baby and she wants you to see her when you get back to town. She said the shirt you picked up isn't the only thing she makes that will adjust for you and she wants a chance to show you some other clothes."

My eyes must have lit up because he laughed and added, "If you think that's something, wait until you see what's in that bag." Les' long finger pointed to a black garment bag hanging on a hook on the back of the bathroom door.

I stood up slowly and walked over pulling the zipper down, both excited and nervous about what was inside. Right away I saw a lovely cream colored dress. I was glad that it wasn't a traditional white dress because with the little baby bump I was sporting we couldn't fool anyone that pure white was appropriate. It appeared to be a tea length dress with A-line seams that would offer a soft fit to give me a figure without pulling too much over my stomach to point out the obvious.

As happy as I was about being pregnant now, I wanted my wedding to be separate. I was marrying Woody because I loved him, not because I had to in order to legitimize the children. The thought of that made me shiver. No, I was going to be his wife because he was a good man, he understood me, and I wasn't sure my heart could go on if we weren't together.

When I lifted the dress out of the bag I got the full impact of its beauty. I was going to owe Ella big time. The neckline plunged in the front to show plenty of cleavage and the body of the dress had little princess sleeves that gathered and cupped the shoulders. Coming out of the silky smooth material was a thin, almost transparent material that made up sleeves and cover for my chest and back that would be otherwise exposed. It didn't really provide modesty as one could see through it, but it added a delicate layer of femininity.

She had included a shoe bag that had a pair of four inch heels that matched the dress perfectly. They were a traditional style, but the tiniest row of pearls ran along the top of the shoe and across the toe to the inside. It added interest and sparkle. I'd never seen anything like this and wondered why Ella would have a dress like this reserved for me. If Lester spoke to her at ten last night she certainly didn't have time to go shopping. Maybe one day I could ask why she happened to have a wedding appropriate dress in her closet.

Lester realized I had been unusually quiet and walked over to where I was standing. "Do you like it? If you don't I'm pretty sure Hector and I can take you shopping to find something that you'd rather wear. We might be pushing it for time because of how late it is, but I'm sure Woody wouldn't mind waiting."

"No," I interrupted. "There's no need, this is perfect."

Lester visibly relaxed. Then I asked, "Where is Woody?"

Lester laughed, "Are you worried about a runaway groom?"

I hadn't thought about that as a possibility until Lester mentioned it and my face must have shown that because Les jumped in immediately, talking quickly, "No, Steph, no, he's just downstairs. He wasn't sure how much tradition you wanted to observe today and if you didn't want to see him until the wedding he wanted to stay out of your way. If you want to see him, he'll be down there for a while longer and then he's going to his sister's house to get dressed. Believe me, that man isn't going anywhere."

I relaxed at his words, smiling at how thoughtful Woody was being. Then Les decided to joke once more, "Besides if he tried to back out, I'd remind him that I'd already called him to the mats once before over how he treated you and if he ever hurts you again I won't hesitate to find him and teach him a lesson." We both laughed at his words knowing that Lester would do it, but knowing too, that he would never need to call Woody out for hurting me again.

"I think nothing about my relationship with Woody has been traditional so I feel no need to avoid him all day. I'm hungry and I really want to see him before I start the day." I announced, pulling on a pair of long pants over the boxers I had been wearing in order to go downstairs.

Before we walked out Les called my name and then pointed to a small suitcase sitting on the bench at the foot of the bed. "Ella also sent that for you. She made me promise not to look in it, but she said you absolutely needed everything that was in there."

I didn't bother to look now, but in my heart I knew Ella had sent me some lovely things from Victoria's Secret. Not only would I have an exquisite bra and panty set under my dress tonight, but I probably had a few pieces of lingerie to celebrate my marriage in style. When I got back to Trenton I needed to find a way to thank Ella. If ever there was an example of a loving mother, it was her. Hopefully I would act toward my own children more from her guidance than that of my own mother.

My stomach growled loudly snapping me from my musings so I made my way to the kitchen, disappointed when it was empty. I really wanted to see Woody and to touch him. I needed to feel a little of his strength to anchor me for the day. I went to the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk. Stella had gotten whole milk and even though I knew it probably wasn't as good for me, I loved the rich creamy taste. When it was whole milk I didn't even need cookies to dip in it to make it drinkable.

Les watched me drink the milk quickly and then asked if I wanted to have my cereal straight from the box to mix with what I'd already drunk. I stuck out my tongue to show him I was mature and not amused.

When I turned back to the fridge to see if there was anything in there that called out to be eaten I heard a sexy voice say, "I think what you're looking for is in the bottom drawer way at the back, so you need to bend over and stretch to reach it."

I spun around at the sound of Woody's voice and ran to him wrapping myself around him as soon as we came into contact with each other. He immediately kissed me and we were temporarily lost in our own little world. The sound of Les clearing his throat a third time was the only reason we pulled apart slightly. "Now, that's a 'good morning'," Woody said.

"I missed seeing you when I woke up," I told him still ignoring poor Les who was sitting on the bar watching us.

"I sent Les in case you wanted to have a more traditional day, but I didn't want to leave you either." He replied.

I nodded that I understood, "Nothing about me is traditional, so I didn't see the need to stay away from you until the wedding." Then I had to ask, "Are we really getting married today?" It seemed surreal.

"Only if you want to," Woody responded giving me yet another chance to back out. "If you're sure, then yes, I've talked to the judge and he'll be here at 5:00 to perform the wedding. I'm a Virginia resident so it was easy to get the license. Of course, we'll have to settle for a honeymoon here, at least until your arm heals a little," He explained taking my injured wrist in his hand. "But I have kicked the guys out of the house and after dinner with everybody we'll lock the doors and celebrate with some privacy."

"Hmmm," I replied as though that conveyed anything other than my desire to have a long period of alone time with Woody. Evidently, my word choice was the right one as Woody's arm tightened around my back and his lips moved to my ear to quietly say, "I feel the same way. The next time I make love to you, it will be as your husband and I wanted to not only be sure that we could avoid any interruptions, but that we didn't have to worry about a guest overhearing something. I remember that first night when we didn't have as many inhibitions and neither one of us was all that quiet."

My knees buckled slightly and Woody's grip on me more than compensated for my inability to stand upright. "You okay?" He asked pulling away slightly.

"I will be as soon as you lock the door to the house tonight." He pulled me to him once more for a hug before relaxing his arms slightly and speaking in his normal volume.

"We've got five hours until the wedding, so why don't you have a little lunch. I'm going to take a ride with Robert to talk about the property and then go to Stella's to get ready." She took the liberty of picking out my clothes so I have no idea what I'll be wearing when I see you next. Stella is going to come over about 3:00 to move some things around and decorate, but she promised not to go overboard. You can come down anytime you want, but the judge will be expecting to see you at five sharp."

I listened to everything he said and then realized I only had five hours to get ready for my wedding and I was going to have to do it all by myself. As much as I loved Lester, he wasn't a woman and was useless for the kind of work I needed to do. I was about to go upstairs and get started, but Woody called my name getting my full attention once more. "You should eat something. I don't want you to get weak again and miss our wedding night."

Understanding the implied threat I turned back to the fridge and found a jar of pickles on the bottom shelf at the back. I over exaggerated my movements to get the jar and was rewarded when I stood up and saw Les and Woody both with their eyes glazed over. I winked at them before I took a bite of my pilfered prize and laughed when they both shook their heads as thought they were trying to clear the image burned in there.

Woody walked past me to go out the back door and stopped to say, "Tonight, Darlin' I want to see that again, but without the sweatpants."

I didn't have time to respond before he walked out leaving me with a very confused looking Lester. "What?" I asked him.

"According to Bobby, the two of you are like rabbits and you still have that spark," He replied.

"What spark?" I wondered.

"We've talked about the fact that I don't usually go out with a woman again after we've had sex. Part of the reason is that my favorite part is the banter back and forth, the teasing and the challenge, but once you been together that's gone. I think I've been able to wait as long as I have with Marina because that teasing element is even better with her than anyone I've ever known and I don't want that part to be over. But you two still seem like you have that spark even though you're past the first time."

I struggled to keep from laughing out loud. "It's safe to say that we're past the first time, but I think Bobby's explanation of rabbits may have been a slight over exaggeration. The banter and the tension only grows when you get to know the right person. My guess is once you and Marina make love you will find new ways to tease or private insinuations that will reduce her to putty in your hands. It's true that it's different, but the difference is that it's much better."

Les seemed to consider what I was saying and weighing its truth. "I hope you're right because I like spending time with her. I feel different around her and I can't put my finger on why, but I like the way she makes me feel."

Suddenly I felt the need to get back to Trenton to talk to Marina. I wanted to be sure she was feeling the same was as Les was. He was obviously falling for her and I couldn't begin to imagine how horrible it would be if she hurt him. But if she was as hooked as he was then I was so happy for my friend. It would be great to see him grow into a real relationship.

Les and I talked and laughed through lunch and he picked up two bottles of water when I stood up an hour later to begin getting ready. I looked at him like he couldn't be serious. "I don't know what kind of work is involved in getting ready for a woman, but I do know that Bobby said you had been so dehydrated last night that he had to put a line in. I'm taking Bobby home in the morning so unless you want to make a trip to the hospital for your honeymoon, you need to get used to drinking a little more."

I rolled my eyes, but down deep I appreciated his warning. I wasn't used to having to make myself do things involving food and beverages. That was one part of my life that always felt natural to me. Just like the conversation the other day with Woody's dad about me taking my safety more seriously, I needed to hear Les' words about remembering to eat and drink even when I didn't feel like it.

I walked over and took both the bottles and placed a soft kiss on Lester's cheek. "Thank you," I told him.

He cupped his hand to my face as he had so many times over the past months and replied, "Anytime Beautiful."

As I walked up the steps slowly I heard Les call Marina on his phone and I smiled at the happiness evident in his voice.

I walked past Bobby and Hector coming downstairs with their bags packed taking their things over to Stella's. "I'm so sorry that you're being kicked out of your rooms just because of our wedding," I apologized.

Both their faces lit up and Hector spoke, "Not kicked out, we go. You need to be alone."

Bobby added to Hector's comment, "Besides, we'll be up and gone early in the morning, and you guys will probably be just getting to sleep by then, so it's for the best."

Remembering what Lester had said, my mouth suddenly spoke without my brain's permission and I told Bobby, "I'm so sorry about the nights you were downstairs. I had no idea you could hear so much."

Bobby erupted in laughter before saying, "Well, I did call Gina this morning to be sure we could get together as soon as I get back. I told her after having to listen to the two of you if I couldn't see her soon I was sure I'd go blind."

We all laughed at his reference to having to take his needs into his own hands, and then I continued up to the bedroom.

I shut the door and took my time going through Ella's special suitcase. I wasn't the least bit surprised about what was in there, except for how gorgeous everything was. I couldn't decide what to wear first. Fortunately there was a white set that she had in a bag marked "wedding dress" so I picked that up and headed into the bathroom.

When I unzipped the bag to take a peek I noticed an envelope which I pulled out to open. In it was a handwritten note from Ella.

"My Dear Stephanie, How excited I was to hear about your wedding to Woody! He is a good man and has loved you for a long time. He understands you and can give you the life you deserve and the support you need to be happy. If I know you, then you've probably spent some time worrying about Ranger, and I want to assure you that he will be fine. I love my nephew, but when it came to you I never understood him. Don't get me wrong, I believe he loves you in his own way but there are restrictions to how he can love, and you deserve to be loved freely and abundantly. No doubt he will sulk and complain that one of his own men took you away from him, but when he sees your joyful glow he will let that go and admit that Woody is the right person to love you for all eternity. The men miss you terribly. Especially knowing that you are pregnant, they are all anxious to have you back among them safely in the walls of Haywood. I hear them speaking of the baby in the break room, each one as proud as though they are one of the parents themselves. I confess that even Louis and I have argued over who will get to the hold the baby first. We were unable to have children, and have begun to think of the men in the building as our own. Thinking of you growing with what we will look at as a grandchild has brought us both such joy. Today I want you to enjoy yourself. Let Woody spoil you and hold the memory of this day in your heart. Spend time in each other's company and get used to thinking of each other as your completing half and then return to us so that we can all share in your joy. I do miss you, but I rejoice in this day and cannot wait to offer my congratulations in person. Love, Ella."

I was thankful I read her note before I put on my makeup as the tears were freely streaming down my face. I reread her words several times before carefully folding the paper back up and placing it in the envelope for safekeeping. Then I took off my brace gently and sat it down on the counter. My wrist still looked horrible, but I was pleased that it was looking a little less horrific. At this point I was ready to count any improvement, no matter how small.

For the next two hours I took my time pampering myself. I took a bubble bath, I exfoliated, I shaved, and I did a self wax to be sure I could wear the skimpy panties Ella sent along. Then I got in the shower to wash my hair. I was pruney, but I was finally prepped to begin getting ready. I glanced at the clock and swallowed a lump in my throat when I saw I had an hour and a quarter until it was time.

I painted my toes first with a passion pink color Stella had in my basket under the sink. Then I used some of the styling gel for curly hair that she included and while it dried in, I began on my make-up. I wanted to go for an understated look so I used a hint of blue with some smoky grey over the top for my eye shadow and lined my eyes with a fine tip pencil in blue so that the color of my eyes would stand out. I had some lipstick that nearly matched the polish I used earlier so I used that. Finally, I was surprised when a single layer of mascara made me feel complete. I assumed I'd need a little more than that, but chocked it up to knowing I was about to do the right thing so extra courage wasn't necessary.

Then I turned my attention to my hair and only had to wrestle with it for thirty minutes to get it falling around my face in loose curls. I left some of the curls on top whole without brushing them out to give me some bouncy ringlets mixed in with the softer waves. It was elegant and playful and I thought it suited the occasion perfectly.

I had ten minutes left so I stepped into the bra and panty set and smiled when I saw it in the mirror. I never thought of myself as a knockout beauty, but in this outfit of barely there items I had a feeling Woody was going to love the surprise waiting for him under my dress.

I pulled the dress off the hanger reverently. It felt so feminine and beautiful in my hands that I hoped I did it justice when I slipped it on. I was a little nervous about how I would look, so I turned away from the mirror to step into the dress and zip it up. It fit me perfectly allowing me to let out the breath I'd been holding. I put my feet in the shoes and smiled at how soft they were. I briefly felt guilty about how much this outfit must have cost someone, but pushed that thought from my mind. It was my wedding day, and Ella told me to let Woody spoil me so I just decided to go with it. I put the brace back on as well. I didn't want to wear it because I knew it was ruining the look of the dress, but at least it covered up the bruising.

I needed something to cover up the brace so it wasn't the first thing a person's eyes were drawn to. I looked around and saw both of the nightstands had old fashioned lace doilies on them. I didn't see any other options so I assumed Woody meant it when he told me everything in the house was mine. I took the lace circles into the bathroom and cut them into strips. Then I used hairspray to coat my brace and laid the lace pieces on the sticky coating. I had to tuck the ends in to finish the look, but when I ran out of doilies I was pleased to see the brace had been effectively covered.

I turned slowly in front of the full length mirror and took in my image. I was pleased with how I looked. I had a fleeting moment of sadness that more of the guys weren't here, nor were my family but when a soft knock came at the door and I saw Lester's reflection enter behind me I felt only peace.

Les stood behind me and said, "My God, Beautiful, you are everything a bride should be." I turned to see him in a black button up shirt tucked in black dress pants. There was a time I would have complained about the single color theme, but Les was gorgeous with the dark color bringing out his skin tone so I swallowed hard and replied, "You're not so bad yourself."

"Oh no, there is no way you're complimenting me when you look like that." He argued back. "Hell, I'm afraid to touch you because I don't want to mess anything up until Woody gets to see you."

I walked over and grabbed his hand leading him to the door. "Come on, I'm ready to get this show on the road." My comment got his attention and he followed me out the door. When we started coming down the stairs I realized Woody, Bobby and Hector were all waiting for us. My grip on Lester's hand tightened and he laughed, "Relax beautiful, they just wanted a chance to see you."

I took a deep breath and hoped that I could make it down the stairs without completely embarrassing myself. I didn't dare look at Woody's face until I was five steps away. I figured if I tripped over my feet at that point one of them could catch me before I did anymore damage.

The love pouring from his eyes to me was almost unbearable, and I stopped walking temporarily. Lester let go of my hand and left me while Woody quickly came up the first three steps and held out his hand to me. When I put my hand in his I felt the electricity that we seemed to generate and it gave me the nudge I needed to move forward.

Woody was wearing a black suit, with tone on tone under it in a black dress shirt and tie. Under his slacks he was wearing a pair of shiny black boots and I smiled at the perfect combination. He was a good looking man in his daily t-shirt and cargoes, but dressed like this I had to remind myself there was a judge in the other room waiting on us to keep from wanting to pull him upstairs right now.

When we were on the same step Woody put his free hand on my cheek and smiled at me. The sight of his dimple made me smile in return and he put his cheek next to mine to whisper in my ear, "In all of creation, there has never been a woman as amazing as you, Stephanie Plum. You take my breath away."

He nuzzled his face against mine softly and then pulled back and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," I assured him.

Woody led me down the stairs where Bobby and Hector each took a moment to touch my hand and compliment how I looked. I thought it was interesting that no one but Woody seemed to want to get very close in the way they normally would. The guys were usually eager to hug me or pull me to them when I was dolled up for a distraction. But even I could tell the difference in how I appeared for a distraction and the way I looked right now. I knew there was a glow about me that I'd never seen before, and I knew it was there because of Woody. Perhaps the guys recognized that too and out of respect for their friend they were keeping a distance.

We walked around the corner to the living room that Stella had completely transformed from the way it appeared earlier. Most of the furniture was pushed back and the sun was glistening off the hills in the pasture indicating the beginning of the evening. She had candles throughout the room, which weren't really necessary now, but would be lovely after the sunset. She had flowers and greenery placed strategically to add to the ambiance, without overdoing the effect. I was impressed that she had created a magic space for our wedding that was exactly what I would have wanted even though I would not have been able to describe it.

The judge smiled at us as we stepped forward with Les, Bobby and Hector stepping up to my side and Robert and Stella following suit beside Woody. As the older gentleman in front of us began to speak I looked up hoping to clear my eyes of any tears, but none came. Either I was doing a very good job or I didn't need to cry. My heart was full, and I had never been this happy so I let go of my worries and just listened to his words and tried to follow Ella's advice of holding the memory in my heart.

He had elongated a normal justice of the peace service and included a few religious references and readings which made it mean more to me without seeming overdone. Before I realized it I was being asked to affirm my desire to take Woody as my lawfully wedded husband. I couldn't stop the smile that broke across my face as I said "I do." Later as I repeated my vows I was struck at how easy it was to promise to share my life, my heart and my future with this wonderful man.

Half an hour later he told Woody that he could kiss his bride, and kiss me he did. Any hesitancy that may have been in him about touching me in my made-up state was gone and he hungrily devoured my lips with his own. What might have been inappropriate in a church fit us perfectly in our home. Breaking apart when the guys began to cough, Woody placed a short softer kiss on my lips and whispered, "I love you."

I kissed him again in return and replied, "I love you too."

We eventually managed to pull apart and receive the good wishes of our friends. The judge called us over to the table to sign our license and we used Stella and Lester as our witnesses.

We spent the next three hours eating and laughing. Stella had turned on some soft music in the background that was a variety of styles and musicians and perfectly suited the festive feel of the meal. After I took my first bite of the cake Stella had prepared, I told her how impressed I was that she managed to make a wedding cake with three layers: the top and bottom were laced with pineapple and the center layer was a banana cream combining our two favorite desserts. She had iced it with a whipped cream icing to give it a traditional look. I moaned my way through every taste of it making Stella beam and all the men shift uncomfortably.

When the dessert was cleared away the guys came over and hugged me goodbye. Bobby said he would be speaking with Dr. Murray after my appointment so if I had any questions or concerns I could call him. I desperately wanted to go upstairs, but I was sad to think of the night ending. We walked everyone to the front porch and I kissed my guys goodbye thanking each of them for everything they had done for me. Of course, that caused the tears to pool up that I had expected earlier.

Woody came over and did a man hug with each of his friends practically glowing as they walked away with Robert and Stella. Once they were far enough away we knew they wouldn't return, Woody pulled me back to him for another kiss. This time when we pulled apart he indicated with a nod of his head that we should go back inside. He shut and locked the door and then went to the alarm panel and keyed in a code to secure us in and prevent any interruptions.

I wasn't prepared for him to turn around to face me and then sweep me off my feet once more so a shrill squeal came from my mouth when he swept me into his arms. "I missed the threshold so I could lock up, but I intend to carry you over the entrance to our bedroom instead."

"Is there anything you need?" He asked as he walked up the stairs.

"Just you," I replied honestly beginning to feel a need burning in me that only Woody could satisfy.

He sat me down at the foot of the bed and spoke aloud what I knew to be true. "Everything I have is yours Steph. Anytime you need me, I'll move heaven and earth to be there. And as for needing me now, I intend to spend the next few hours satisfying that desire."

Knowing that I married a man of his word I surrendered to him knowing by the time the sun rose again I would be an exhausted but very happy woman.


	26. Who Says You Can't Go Home

_All the characters below belong to the great JE._

_Jenn (perfectmanhattan) you've done it again. Thank for all your work as the beta on this story._

**Chapter 26 – Who Says You Can't Go Home?**

As I put the last pair of maternity pants in my bag to go back to Jersey I couldn't help but sigh at the thought of having to leave the place that I now considered my home. I left my work on the end of the bed and walked over to the window to look out over the back pasture. I was going to miss being here. I didn't hear Woody enter the room, but I felt a calm wash over me as he drew near that I only felt in his presence.

Woody's arms came around my waist and met over my stomach. "I'm sure we could stay a little longer if you wanted to," He offered for the fourth time today.

"As much I want to, we need to go back. RangeMan has been more than understanding about both our absences, but it's time to face reality." I said trying to convince myself as much as him.

We spent a wonderful four days celebrating our new marriage in perfect honeymoon style before I had to return to Dr. Murray's office. A follow up x-ray showed the bones had indeed moved and surgery was required. It took a lot of convincing, but he allowed Woody to come in the operating room with me and hold my good hand while Dr. Murray used a spinal to block the pain to my broken wrist and repair the damage with a single pin.

RangeMan graciously allowed me to stay in Virginia for my follow-up appointments over the next three weeks and since I was being released to a physical therapist now we didn't see a reason to delay our return again. We called the guys after my appointment yesterday and told them we'd drive home today and would be there in time for dinner in case they wanted to go to Shorty's for pizza to celebrate our return. According to a text I got from Les this morning, most of the guys wanted to meet us since they had only been told that I had an announcement, so they brought in a couple of contract workers to cover the monitors and most everybody would be there for dinner. This would be the perfect opportunity to tell them of our marriage and the fact we were going to be welcoming two babies instead of one.

Dealing with my wrist had been a pain, both figuratively and literally, but it had given us more time alone to get used to the idea of being married and I was still amazed at how natural it felt to think of myself as Woody's wife. I had no doubts about my marriage, but I was worried about how the ease of being together here would be changed by our return to Trenton.

As if reading my thoughts Woody said, "It will be just like here only with more interruptions."

"That's what I'm worried about," I replied, "I like having you all to myself without the interruptions."

Woody laughed and reminded me, "Relax, I'm the one that will have to adjust. All the guys are going to want to have your attention for themselves. You'll be surrounded by your friends and I'll have to figure out how to keep my jealous side in check."

Woody pulled me away from the window and back to my work. I'd finally let him talk me into getting some maternity clothes. A lot of my shirts still worked, but I needed some new pants. Today I was going with some jeans that had a little tummy panel in the front to make room for my baby bump which was now pronounced enough to see with no effort. I had paired it with the shirt I got at Marina's shop. Woody had patiently worked with me to get it tied on just the way I wanted it to give me a defined waist so that from the front you couldn't really tell I was pregnant. Of course from the side it was becoming increasingly obvious so I'd have to watch how I stood.

I blamed the hormones for the tear that fell down my face when Woody set the alarm and locked the front door. Seeing that I was upset he promised we would be back soon, and often, and then he handed me a key. "Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Of course I'm sure. You need a key to your home Stephanie. This isn't my place anymore, it's ours and I want you to feel like you can come back anytime you want," He explained pressing the cold metal into my good hand.

We drove back to Jersey talking for half of the trip, and me napping for the other half. Woody gently shook my shoulder when we were in the garage and had some crackers out for me to eat as I woke up. We had learned to control a lot of the morning sickness over the past week giving me hope that perhaps the worst of my symptoms were behind me.

I ate the crackers and took a drink of a water bottle he opened for me before returning my seat to the upright position. Woody kept a hand on my shoulder until I nodded that I was okay and the nausea was passing. We had done the same routine every time I had fallen asleep for the past week and I'd not gotten sick once. He anticipated my need and I relied on him to know what I wanted. There was comfort in having someone know you that well.

Just as I was about to open my door it flew open on its own and I was torn out of the truck by Lester who pulled me to him in a big bear hug. "God Beautiful, it is so good to have you back where you belong. This place hasn't been the same without you."

Woody was by our side in an instant and nodded to Les as a greeting. "I should warn you that if she's been napping and you move her that quickly, you're very likely to get covered with something unexpected. You shouldn't surprise her right now." Woody was trying to keep his tone as that of a friendly warning, but I thought it had an undercurrent of 'don't grab my woman' to it as well.

As soon as my feet were on the cement of the garage Woody pulled me back to him. Ah yes, I was back home in the land where testosterone abounds.

We hopped in the elevator and as soon as the doors opened on five there was a swarm of Merry Men surrounding us. We were both wearing our wedding rings but we made no effort to hide or show them. Being guys, no one seemed to notice. Just as the initial wave of noise died down I felt that old tingle on my neck that meant that Ranger was near. Woody pulled me to his side and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Babe," Came the silky voice I had not heard in months. "Let's talk in my office."

Woody wanted to object, but Ranger was still his boss so I put my hand on his arm and mouthed, "It's okay."

Woody said, "You don't have to do this. You can tell him you're tired after a long trip and you can talk to him later."

"I could, but then this chat would be hanging over my head and I'd rather just get it over with. He'll either be pissed off or happy for us, and I'd rather know what I'm dealing with than keep worrying about it," I explained squeezing my hand tighter on his arm.

"I'll be in the break room when you're finished. Come find me and we can go downstairs together before dinner with the guys," He offered. I felt better knowing he would be close by if I needed him.

I walked in Ranger's office and felt uncomfortable. He was staring at his computer monitor so I took a moment to look around. Everything looked the exact same as it had the last time I was in here, but I felt out of place. Perhaps it was because I had always considered Ranger one of my closest friends until he left town suddenly. Now I have two huge secrets which have been intentionally kept from him and I feared that he might be hurt by what I needed to tell him.

"Babe," Ranger said pulling me from my thoughts and using his hand to indicate I should have a seat across from his desk.

"It's good to see you," he began making me feel even guiltier for having kept everything from him.

"I'm sorry about everything you've been through over the last couple of months. I know the guys are really upset about the danger you've been in because of the Jenkins takedown." He said.

"It was stressful for a while, but everything is okay now," I reassured him.

"I was furious when I found out that someone from this organization betrayed you in Virginia so I had Hector send me the tape of Smith's takedown so that I could better understand what happened in order to keep it from happening again," Ranger explained coming around in front of me and leaning on the desk turning his monitor to face us as he spoke.

"In watching this tape I saw a few things I wanted to comment on," He said bringing up an image of me facing Smith right after he had slapped my face. He let it run for a few seconds as I asked to sit down and Smith allowed me to move to the bench and then Ranger paused it again.

"There, that is what confuses me," Ranger said clearly hoping I would explain something. "You have a gun at your back and yet you allow yourself to be put in a corner instead of pulling your weapon when he is distracted by you getting sick on him and then asking to move. You could have shot him in the shoulder like you did Bertucci and protected yourself."

"Maybe," I challenged feeling a sense of unease return as I remembered that day. "My concern was more that he was better trained with faster reflexes and he would have seen me go for my weapon and shot me first if he felt threatened. But by this point my gut told me as long as I kept talking he wouldn't hurt me."

Ranger raised an eyebrow at me. "You mean he wouldn't hurt you again."

"I knew he wouldn't shoot me if he thought I had information about why he wasn't hired." I clarified.

"About that," Ranger jumped in. "I could see the wheels spinning when Smith told you Boston found nothing but you turned up information that kept him from being hired. What were you thinking?"

I smiled remembering this part clearly. "I thought every office of RangeMan should get the same information anytime we run a background check. If I'm coming up with information Boston didn't get then they need to be retrained in doing employment checks because we all have access to the same tools."

Ranger smiled in return and it temporarily took my breath away. He was a good looking man and even though I was happy with Woody, there was no denying his smile should be recorded as one of the natural wonders of the world. "I agree with you completely, so next week the two men who run the majority of the background checks in the Boston office will be coming here for you to retrain. This type of miss was inexcusable and I should have caught their oversight at the time."

Then he returned his attention to the computer and hit a few buttons to advance the tape to the end after Bones had cuffed Smith to the door and I was sitting on the bench with Smith's gun beside me. I wrapped both my arms over my stomach and bent over slightly. Ranger looked at me with a questioning expression, "Why did you do that?" His hand pointed to my arms wrapped over my stomach.

I answered with the first thing that popped into my head, "Because I was upset and I had just gotten sick."

"I thought that too, but when I asked Hector if he knew why you would cradle your stomach with your arms instead of pulling your legs up in a ball like you usually do when you're upset, he sent me another clip from the security cameras." Ranger told me.

After hitting a few keys he pulled up the feed from the night I was shot in the back of my leg at my parent's house. The guys refused to leave the hall until they saw for themselves that I was alright and had not miscarried. The sound was off but I saw each of the guys walk by and put their hand on my stomach and say something. Watching the tape now, my eyes began to fill with tears as I could see the love and concern in their eyes.

I was so focused on watching the silent footage that I didn't notice Ranger move to sit in the chair next to me. I jumped when he put his warm hand on my stomach and said, "I'm guessing you're twelve or thirteen weeks along."

My eyes cut to him in shock. No one had said anything to him, but Ranger knew I was pregnant. "Twelve," I replied, my mouth suddenly very dry.

I decided since he had been kept out of the loop about the pregnancy that I should offer him an olive branch. "And, while we were in Virginia we found out that it's twins, so there are two little peanuts in there, but the guys don't know that yet."

Ranger's lips turned up marginally as I said the last bit understanding I was trying to tell him something no one else knew. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked with a hint of hurt in his voice.

"You left," I said before swallowing the lump that was in my throat to continue. "You came in one day and announced you were moving to Miami to be closer to Julie and you left without a second glance my direction. I assumed you wanted nothing to do with me. Even then, when Jenkins became a problem you didn't come back right away. It wasn't until your presence was required with the Bertucci family that you returned and I have a feeling if they hadn't insisted on seeing you that you would still be avoiding me." By the end there was a bit of hurt seeping into my own voice.

Ranger moved his hand to push a stray curl behind my ear in a gesture that was both familiar and comforting. "I had to go. If I'd stayed we would have continued in our pattern and it was hurting us both too much to continue that way."

"How was it hurting us?" I asked glad to finally have a chance to talk to him about his leaving.

"I was giving you everything I could, but I know you needed more. You needed someone who would not only hold you at night, but who would talk to you too. I was loving you in my way, but my way has strings and restrictions and limits. You love freely with your whole heart and deserve to have that same type of emotion returned to you. Julie really did need me, and I plan on going back next week to stay close to her, but I couldn't leave without seeing you too. Leaving the first time was the hardest thing I'd ever done and I needed to see for myself that you were alright before I could do it again." He admitted.

"Then why do it?" I pressed.

"To give you a chance at a real life; one where you could soar and you could have a partner to fly along with you." He explained. "Of course a month after I left I started getting these e-mails from my cousin. Lester used just about every name possible to tell me what a bastard I was for leaving you. Those I could handle, but when his tone shifted and he began to tell me about your adventures and the things the two of you were doing together I broke my computer. The thought of you with Les nearly made me sick."

I couldn't help but laugh, which made Ranger reach out and touch me once more.

"I told him to keep his hands off of you and he dared me to come back and make him if I found it so sickening to think of someone else touching you. But then his tone shifted again and I realized he was getting protective and nurturing when he spoke of you which was so hard to picture from my cousin. Tank told me the two of you were inseparable, but there was nothing romantic about it. You needed someone to look after you and Lester needed somebody to see the good in him so you based a friendship on that." I thought Ranger's explanation of my relationship with Lester was exactly right so I simply nodded.

"But what I'm not clear on is how you went from a friendship with Lester to a third of the way through a pregnancy with twins." At this point Ranger stopped talking and looked expectantly at me. Clearly he was waiting for me to tell him who the babies' father was and knowing what a patient man he could be I knew I needed to spill the beans.

Instinctively I put my hand on my stomach. As the bump grew, so did my need to reassure myself that it was okay. "Les arranged for a group of us to go dancing the night of the Jenkins take down. I had a few drinks with the guys and danced for hours. That night Woody took me home and these guys are a result of that night."

I recognized the expression on Ranger's face as being identical to the one Tank got just before he got up and knocked Woody out before my first doctor's appointment. I put my hand on Ranger's arm to calm him down and kept talking. "After that night, before we knew I was pregnant he was such a gentleman. He let me know all about himself and opened up to me in a way no one ever has. He volunteered to take me to my parent's house for dinner, and he told me about his family. We were developing a deep relationship before we found out we were having a baby. But once we knew then it just intensified how we felt."

I could feel his muscles relax slightly as I spoke but his blank face remained in place. "Did Hector also send you the clip of Les calling Woody to the mats when he found out we'd spent the night together after I'd been drinking?" Ranger's expression softened slightly so I decided to offer him one more detail, "How about when I told Tank I was pregnant from that same night's activities and he promptly stood up, walked out of his office to Woody's desk and knocked him flat on his ass with one punch?"

This time Ranger couldn't help but smile at that image. "No, but I think I'll have a little visit with Hector and have him pull those up. It sounds like my men have been caring for you just fine without me here."

"No one has ever protected me like you, but the guys have been trying really hard to look out for me. A lot of them seem really excited about the baby too. I couldn't believe it would matter to them, but Bobby and Les helped me to see how it will make us more of a family than we already are." I said hoping to get him thinking of happier things and less focused on teaching Woody a lesson.

Ranger put his hand on top of mine. "This is what I wanted for you."

"What did you want for me?" I asked, slightly confused.

"A husband, a family, and a way for the men to watch over you as a part of your life, not as forced bodyguards," He clarified.

"I don't know how I'll manage two babies and working, but I really want to come back to work afterwards," I stated hoping he would be okay with that.

"Tank and Les told me I need to move you into sales because you are a natural so if you are okay with that, I think we'll move you into the outreach side of RangeMan and you can set your own schedule. As far as the babies go, I don't see why they can't come to work with you. Between Ella and all the guys I would think that you'll have no need for daycare, but that decision would be up to you." He offered.

"You'd be alright with having babies in your office during the work day?" I asked.

"I'd be okay with having your children in the office any time. You turned this from an office to a family and I think these babies will do wonders for my men. Besides I trust you and I know that if it is a problem, you'll find a way to work around it." He told me.

"Are you coming to Shorty's with us?" I asked changing the subject abruptly.

"I'll probably drop by and pay the bill," He smiled. "I'd like to see their faces when you tell them you're already married and they'll have two babies to protect instead of just one."

I stood up and moved to sit in Ranger's lap without invitation, taking him off guard. "You need to more aware of your surroundings, Batman," I told him as his arms came around me.

"I guess I've been away from you long enough that I forgot where you're concerned I should expect the unexpected." He retorted.

We sat their silently for a few minutes and I felt the mood in the room shift to the comfortable companionship we always enjoyed when we were together.

"I can see it," Ranger finally said breaking the silence in the room.

"See what?" I wondered.

"The connection to Woody," He offered. "He's a good man, and his past with his family isn't that different from your own. Plus, he's loved you for a long time. I think you'll be happy with him."

I sat up a little to look at Ranger. "You knew and never said anything to me?"

"It wasn't my place to play matchmaker. But I noticed how he always volunteered for shifts with you and how he would trade duty to be on your detail when you needed extra coverage. And there were a few nights when Joe went out drinking with his friends that I know Woody intervened and sent him home to you before Joe could step out into trouble." Ranger explained.

Thinking back I had come up with similar stories of things I had not noticed at the time but now could see as signs of how he felt about me. I opened my mouth and said the truth, "I'm a very lucky woman."

Ranger shook his head slightly, "No Babe, I've got to tell you that I think Woody's the one who won it all on this one."

I stood up feeling like we had come to a comfortable place and as I took a step away there was a soft knock at the door. "Enter," Ranger called out as a command.

The door opened and Zip walked in grinning from ear to ear, "Boss, Steph, we just wondered if you were ready to leave for Shorty's? The guys are getting hungry and we all want to see Bomber."

Ranger lifted his chin telling me to go ahead. "I'll be along in a few minutes, you go ahead."

And just like that he gave me back to the guys. This time thought it didn't feel like he was walking away from me so much as he was letting me go where I was more needed.

Woody was right outside the door and pulled me to him as soon as I stepped out. He held me tightly and whispered, "Are you alright? The longer you were in there the harder it was for me to not barge in there to check on you."

A part of me loved the idea of Woody feeling the need to protect me from Ranger, but the larger piece wanted to ease his mind so I returned his hug and said, "Relax, he already knew about the baby and our marriage so it was more about us catching up, a little bit about the past, but more about the future and how my role at RangeMan will look after the babies come."

Woody pulled back a little to look at me, "You're okay?"

"I'm okay," I assured him.

We piled into an SUV with Les and Zip and met the guys at Shorty's. We filled up a room in the back and by the time we got there they already had pitchers of beer and large pizzas coming to the table. As soon as I sat down Cal asked what news I wanted to share with them.

I took their temporary quiet as my chance to catch every one up on what happened in Virginia. When I told them about getting married, they raised their drinks and proposed a toast to Woody and me. A few of the guys got up and shook Woody's hand or patted him on the back. I looked down at Les who was sitting on my left and he was just beaming at me.

Then I decided to give them the news that I thought they would appreciate even more. "And one more announcement is that while we were away I had a few check ups with a midwife and we discovered that not only is my pregnancy moving along smoothly, but we are having twins. So there will be two little RangeMan babies running around at the end of May."

At this the guys openly cheered and most of them stood up to hug me, put a hand on my stomach and speak to the babies and then give Woody a man hug or a fist bump.

When the commotion began to die down Ranger walked in the back room where we were sitting and said, "As long as Steph is making announcements I thought I'd add one more." The guys gave him their full attention as he continued, "She will be moving into the office next to mine as the new Director of Sales and Customer Service and by the time the babies are born the closet next to her room will be converted into a day nursery for the babies. I understand she wants to return to work after her maternity leave so I'll expect you guys to help ease her back into work and extend the standing order of keeping Steph safe to include her babies as well. I don't think I need to tell you what it would mean if one of them was ever harmed."

There were a few sounds of understanding and I knew in my heart my children would never want for a thing. The order from Ranger only made official what would have happened anyway.

Ranger sat down beside Lester and poured himself a beer which allowed the guys to relax and the fun feel instantly returned. When I sat down Woody pulled my chair closer to him and put his arm around my shoulder occasionally squeezing it or rubbing his hand across the top of my arm while we listened to the guys joke and laugh. It felt good to be here, it felt great to finally be among our family.

An hour later my side was hurting from laughing, but despite the good time I was having I couldn't stop the yawn that came out of my mouth. Woody noticed and asked if I was ready to head back.

I didn't want the night to end, but after being around the guys for so long I was ready to have a little time alone with Woody so I nodded.

I stood up and the guys began to boo and complain that we were leaving. Woody spoke up this time, "I'm not taking her away she just needs a little extra rest right now so I'm taking her back to our apartment at RangeMan. She'll be in her cubicle by 10:00 in the morning." The last comment got a few laughs because the starting time around the office was usually 8:00.

When the guys starting picking on me I called out, "Hey you try growing two babies inside of you and see how early you want to wake up." A few of the guys stood up to wish me goodnight and tell the babies goodbye as well.

By the time we made it back to the apartment I felt as though this day had gone on forever. It was hard to believe just this morning we had eaten breakfast in our house in Virginia and now we were back in our little one room apartment among the guys.

I laughed when Woody locked the door and then moved a chair to block the way in as well. "What?" He asked seeing my expression. "Do you really want to make it easy for the guys to sneak in to check on you?" Seeing his point I asked if he thought one chair was enough.

That night we made love slowly, looking into each others eyes with no attempt to look away. Our hands caressed and worshiped each other and when we came it was gentle eruption of pleasure that came over us together and brought tears to my eyes. It took coming full circle to realize how strong we had become in a few short weeks. This man held my heart and I was excited about our future together confident that we would enjoy a lifetime of happiness. With that thought I shut my eyes and went to sleep.

_Eight Weeks Later_

I was mad. Poor Woody was trying to be helpful and supportive but I was hungry and I wanted breakfast. But the doctor had been very clear that I had to have a three hour glucose tolerance test because I'd been feeling a little off over the last two weeks and he was concerned about how my body was handling sugar because of the pregnancy. I had to skip breakfast and come in first thing this morning to drink a bottle of horrible orange tasting syrup, then the nurse would take a pinprick of blood to test for my sugar level one hour after drinking it, and again three hours after drinking it. If my sugar level had not returned to the normal level by three hours they would diagnose me with gestational diabetes and for the duration of the pregnancy I would need to seriously limit my sugar and carbs. I'd struggled with morning sickness for the first fifteen weeks. Then the sciatic pain had begun in my back, and then I started waking up at night with painful leg cramps. Now I was faced with the possibility of having to give up sugar for the next five months.

I knew so many women who floated through pregnancy but I seemed to be destined to not be one of those women. A piece of me was glad it was twins this time so we would have more than one, and no one could try and force me to do this again in order to not have an only child. The good news was that I was scheduled for an ultrasound after the glucose test and if we wanted to know the sex of the babies, the technician could try to find out for us.

Four hours later, the nurse shook her head when she walked back into the exam room where Woody and I were waiting. She handed me a low sugar granola bar so that I could have something to eat and broke the news to me that I was going to need to lay off sugar. Gestational diabetes could cause complications to my pregnancy if it went unchecked so I would need to be careful for the next few months and really monitor my intact of sweets.

I tried so hard not to cry when she walked out, but some tears managed to fall without my consent. Woody was by my side in an instant pulling me to his chest. "Shhhh, Darlin' it'll be alright. We'll eat together so it won't be such a big deal."

"It's not that," I told him still struggling to keep myself composed.

"Then what is it?" He asked tipping my face up to look in my eyes.

"I don't think I can go through another pregnancy. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. I know the babies are doing okay, and I'm so excited about them coming, but I just don't think I could do this again. Does that make me a horrible mother?" I asked with more tears falling down my cheeks.

"No, Steph, it doesn't," Woody immediately replied. "It makes you an honest woman. Besides, we're having two this time. I don't feel the need to have the Brady Bunch under our roof. Two is plenty for me. We can wait until after they're born and if we feel the same way then we can look our options to insure that's all we have. I don't like watching you suffer. Maybe this is why we've been twice blessed this time."

I loved the way he phrased his explanation and the tears receded from my eyes. When Woody held his hand out and reminded me we had an appointment with the ultrasound department I managed to smile at the opportunity to see our children.

The room was dimly lit and Woody held my hands in his as we looked at the black and white images on the screen. The technologist moved quickly at first trying to capture the required views before slowing down and pointing out the profile, the tiny hands and feet of "Baby A" and then doing the same thing for "Baby B". She asked if we wanted to know the gender of the babies and Woody told her we definitely did. She smiled and pointed to the area between the legs of Baby B and said, "This one is a boy." Then she moved to the other side of my stomach and repeated the process for the Baby A except she said, "And this one is a girl." Finally she added, "Congratulations, you've got a gentleman's pair."

I had never heard the term before but apparently Woody had as his face lit up with a smile bigger than I'd ever seen. "What is that look for?" I asked.

"A gentleman's pair is the perfect reason for stopping with just one pregnancy. We have a boy and girl in our first try so why try again? Besides, I'm smiling because I know there will be a little you running around so I am a very happy man." He explained rubbing his hand over my quickly growing stomach.

We picked up the pictures to take back to the office and as soon as we pulled into the garage we saw the guys had tied balloons that were pink and blue with a note for us to bring up the right ones upstairs with us. Woody and I smiled as we carefully untied both bunches of balloons and took them upstairs. When we stepped out of the elevator Bobby and Lester met us and laughed telling us we obviously didn't understand the point of both colors of balloons. I handed Bobby two of the pictures where the tech had typed both genders on at the appropriate place to identify the babies.

Bobby laughed even harder and said, "Well it looks like they understood the directions just fine. We're having a boy and a girl!"

Cheers were made from every direction as the guys came over to congratulate us on the good news. Apparently the betting pools had to be canceled as no one had guessed both. I took both of the sets of balloons and tied them to the door of my new office smiling at the idea that we were half way to meeting our babies. Ella came in as I sat down behind my desk and hugged me pulling a chair up to sit beside me so that we could review the pictures from the ultrasound. It was so wonderful to have someone like Ella to share this with.

I told her about my glucose test and then we went over the pictures one at a time. When we finished going over my medical report she pulled out Louis' drawing for the conversion of the walk in closet attached to my office. He had created a wonderful space for them to sleep and play and now that we knew we needed to work with colors that would welcome both a boy and a girl Ella was ready to get busy picking out colors and materials. An hour later she left promising to bring me some samples to look at the next day.

I made some sales calls and returned a few customer complaint calls to smooth some ruffled feathers. At four thirty I had an appointment with a jewelry store downtown to go over some plans I had for their security system. Knowing I wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone I stopped for my usual partner in the field. "You ready to roll?" I asked on my way past his desk.

"Sure thing," Bones replied grabbing his keys. "Do you have your gun?" He asked as was his habit anytime we left the building.

"Yes," I responded rolling my eyes pretending to be out of patience with his question.

"Is it loaded?" He pressed when we stepped out of the elevator.

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders pretending to not know the answer. Just as Bones was about to fuss at me for taking my safety so lightly Woody and Zip pulled up. Woody jumped out in time to plant a big kiss on my lips causing Zip to make gagging noises behind us.

Woody pulled away just as I was getting weak in the knees and breathless. "You alright, Darlin'?" He asked pleased with himself.

"Yea," I managed to get out while trying to get my balance again. "I've got a sales call and then I'll be home for the night."

He kissed me softly on the forehead and told us to be careful. Woody looked especially hard at Bones when he said the last part. I felt sorry for Bones sometimes. He volunteered to be my partner in order to come on full time at RangeMan based upon working with me one time with Smith. Sometimes I wonder if he would rather still be a contract worker and not have to deal with the guys constantly threatening him to watch out for me. I wasn't the easiest person to protect and he had to try and do it with all the guys judging him at the same time.

Woody opened my door for me to get in the truck and reminded me that Louis wanted to talk to us tonight after dinner. I promised to call on my way back home so he could call Louis to let him know about what time he should come down. Neither of us had a clue about what he wanted to talk to us about. He and Ella both had been very tight lipped about the whole thing.

The sales call went smoothly and I walked out with another signed contract for RangeMan to install a top of the line system. All in all it was a very good day. Bones was chatty on the way home and I smiled at how most guys didn't realize how much he liked to talk which is why we got along so well when we went out together.

We picked up some Pino's for dinner and I reluctantly ordered us both chicken Caesar salads and told Tony at the register that I didn't want any dessert. He looked at me as though I'd lost my mind, but he didn't put it in the bag for which I was truly thankful. I had the willpower to say no when it wasn't in front of me, but if it came into the apartment I wasn't so sure I could say no again.

After we finished eating Louis came over grinning from ear to ear. Ella wasn't with him which alarmed me right off the bat. Woody and I sat next to each so that I could lean against him and he could put his arm around my shoulder. Louis pulled the coffee table over to rest in front of us and spread out some blueprints in front of us. "I've found you a house." He finally told us causing both of us to sit up straighter and listen.

We had spent a frustrating three weeks looking at house after house all of which we rejected for one reason or another and I was beginning to get discouraged that we would never find a home in Trenton. We had been going back to Virginia for long weekends twice a month since our return, so our attachment to that as our home had grown stronger making it even harder to decide on something in Trenton.

"What is this?" I asked completely at a lost as to what was in front of us. Louis smiled and then explained that half of the sixth floor was their apartment and the other half had been storage and a work space for the two of them. They had spent the last few days cleaning out the storage and work areas and relocating those items to other places in the building freeing up a space roughly the size of Ranger's apartment that could be converted into a three bedroom apartment with a den, a small kitchen and two bathrooms. That way we could stay in the RangeMan building which would satisfy everyone's security requirements and we would have room for everyone to live together.

Woody's face lit up indicating he loved the idea. Then I had to state the obvious. "Umm, guys, they're going to need a yard to play in. We can't exactly set up a playground on the rooftop."

Louis turned the page to a second set of prints and pointed to the back of the building which had a small building and a paved area that was not used. "I believe we can rip up the blacktop, tear down that small shed, and plant some grass, and put up a swing set for the little ones. Then as they get older, we can take that down, and put up something else. It would be plenty for them during the week, and on the weekends you can take them back to Virginia to run free."

"This would be so much work for you," I said feeling badly about all that he and Ella had done for us already.

"It would be an act of love," Louis reminded me. "My Ella has never been as happy as she is after you two have been making baby plans. She is planning on spoiling those children. When I thought of this idea she nearly cried at the idea of having them so close to us." Then he rolled up the plans and said, "You keep these and give it some thought. I can have the apartment ready to move in with a couple months notice. The back yard we will work on after they come and get the grass started this summer."

"But wait, what about Ranger. This is building, is he going to let us take such a large part of it?" I wondered out loud.

"He volunteered to pay for the modifications himself. You may not hear from him often, but my nephew is very happy about the babies coming, and he loved the idea of you staying in the building where we can all be near you." Louis explained taking away my fears.

I looked at Woody who was still thrilled about the idea. "I think this is the answer we've been looking for. At least while they're small. In time we may decide we want to be away from the building, but initially, it would be convenient."

He made a good point so I leaned back against him and looked at Louis. "It looks like when Ella is done with decorating the day nursery next to my office then she needs to help me get a start on our new home."

Louis stood up laughing with joy. He said something in rapid Spanish which Woody responded to and the two men embraced tightly as though they were related. Louis kissed my cheek and then drew me into a hug as well. "I will go tell my bride. This will keep her singing for days!"

Louis let himself out and Woody and I looked at each other. I was relieved to have the decision made so that now we could truly begin to prepare for our family. It was nice to have the address solidified regarding where we would live. This was just where our stuff would be; our home would always be where we were together.

Twenty weeks ago my friends thought I needed a night out to have a little fun and move on with my life. Little did they know after a few shots I would not only move on, but I would leave that night with my future.

_A/N: I feel like I should warn you that we are down to just the epilogue and this story is finished. _


	27. Epilogue  Five Years Down the Road

_The brilliance of the characters below is all a result of JE's creativity and my blatant thievery of them._

_Jenn(perfectmanhattan) I can't believe we have come to the end of another story! Thank you so much for your tireless work as the Beta on this and equal time you spent just checking in and being a friend. I'm still looking for the right cape!_

**Chapter 27 – Epilogue – Five years down the Road**

"You need to be still so that I can get this bow tie to look right," I warned in a stern voice.

"But it's itchy," He complained giving me his sad eyes and melting my heart.

I kept working until I was satisfied that his tie would stay straight and then sent him on with the instruction, "Stay clean, I don't have time to start all over again in getting you dressed."

"Yes, Mom!" Came the response from my four year old son. He was the spitting image of his father in virtually every way. He shared the dimple, the naturally tan skin tone, the straight hair that looked just as good disheveled as recently combed, and the desire to please. Woodrow, who we call Row, was born first exactly at noon on his due date of May 31st. It was considered a miracle that I finished that pregnancy to the fortieth week as multiples often come early, but once I learned to control my sugar intake half way through, the physical aches and pains diminished and I began to enjoy the experience. My doctor had threatened to induce me if they didn't come soon and so being the good little rule follower that he was, Row decided to be born at the perfect time.

As I was smiling at that thought, his twin entered the room. As much as Row was the image of Woody, then I had to claim our daughter Isabella, who we called Bell, as mine. She had a fiery spirit from the moment she entered the world and hasn't backed down from a challenge yet. Her unruly curls are a delight to everyone but me who has the job of trying to keep her still while taming them for public display.

As with many things in their life of opposites, since Row was born easily and promptly, Bell was born hours later and with the use of a vacuum extractor to assist in her delivery. Apparently she had no desire to be born and had to be forced out against her will. But the second her father saw her open her big round blue eyes his brown ones filled with tears. Instead of being concerned about the ordeal that his daughter had been through he smiled at me and said, "She's just like you. God, she's beautiful." And from that moment on, he's been wrapped around that little girl's finger. It's a wonder she has room for him on that finger as she seems to rule the roost downstairs at RangeMan too.

I went back to work when the babies were twelve weeks old and they never had to stay with a nanny. I suggested it just before I resumed my job and the guys were horrified about "their kids" being with a stranger all day. Instead, anyone who wanted to volunteer was put on a rotating schedule and they sat with the kids in four hour shifts while I worked. To be considered for the shift you had to complete a two hour baby care training with Bobby. Outwardly I laughed about it, but I attended twice to appease Bobby that I approved of his methods, and to learn from him because there was no doubt he had done his homework on the best way to care for an infant.

"Bell," I called for the third time. "If we're going to get there in time, you have to let me fix your hair."

My daughter came around the corner begrudgingly holding her hair brush. Apparently, she had taken it, probably in the hope that if I couldn't find her brush I wouldn't make her sit still while I fixed her hair. I decided to try and really fix it today so I began with a little of Mr. Alexander's special gel. The gesture wasn't missed by Bell and her eyes got big when she realized I was going to make it look like mine. Then she ruined the moment by asking, "Can I wear some mascara too?"

I couldn't help but laugh at her as I gently told her no, but offered her some light lip gloss as a compromise. I brushed her hair and used a large curling iron to slightly straighten her hair adding loose waves in place of tight curls. For once she watched mesmerized, as her hair seemed to change in the mirror. I smiled at her and thought how easily Woody and I fell into parenthood.

Neither one of them were particularly fussy so in that respect we had it easier than many parents. They cried if they were hungry, or needed a change, or wanted to be held. Fortunately, there were so many sets of arms around that they rarely experienced a time when they weren't being held. As they grew Bell was the first to walk. After cruising around holding on to desk tops, strong hands, and Ella's dining cart she saw Lester come off the elevator one day and let go of Bone's hand to walk across the hallway to her Tio Lester who picked her up, thrilled to have seen her first real steps.

Of course once she realized she could walk without being restricted by needing help she had little interest in being held and squirmed to get down and try out her independence once more. The similarity to my own headstrong nature wasn't lost on me.

Row watched his sister walk for weeks, seemingly content to keep cruising safely without having to fall down as much as his daredevil twin. One day, the guys had been called out for a rough take down. Woody kissed me before leaving and I could see in his eyes the worry about what was about to happen. A couple of hours later most of the men returned a little beaten up and bruised. Zero had been shot and was in surgery, but Bobby told the guys he should make it. Morale was low and no one took it harder than Woody because he had told Zero to fall back when he realized something was not right, but Zero hadn't listened and now he was paying the price.

When Woody stepped off the elevator with the other guys he was a little dirty, and had a few scrapes visible, but his eyes held a great deal of hurt in them. I was just about to run to comfort him when Row beat me to it. He let go of the desk chair he had been holding and in steady steps walked right up to his father and held up his arms waiting to be held. Woody didn't hesitate to pick up his small son and hold him tight to his chest, closing his eyes and letting the love of this tiny person pour over him. When he next looked at me I could see the improvement in his expression and then I walked over to join the men in my life.

Time and time again the children showed their uncanny ability to sense when something was wrong and either retreat into their day nursery or step out onto the floor turning anger to joy in their wake.

Louis and Ella were a constant presence in our lives and the children referred to them as their Grandparents. Woody and I never had to worry about getting a sitter at night as Ella was there half the time to tell them good night before they went to bed anyway. It seemed the twins were destined to know a life of unconditional love and support. Never once have they questioned the secure life they live in Trenton during the week and the wild and free adventures we have at the ranch on most weekends.

Woody came in behind me with his own tie and stopped when he saw the little girl grinning at him in the mirror. I used my fingers to break apart the curls some and announced that Bell was finished. She sat perfectly still for her lip gloss and then I told her to go find her shoes and put them on.

I took Woody's tie and put it own just as I had Row's earlier. "Are we ready to go?" He asked hopeful that we might get there on time. I nodded with a smile feeling a great sense of accomplishment whenever the four of us went anywhere all dressed up and could get there without a meltdown of some sort.

When we pulled up to the Sacred Heart Church downtown both the kids said, "Wow," from their booster seats in the back. It was a huge cathedral, and from the outside it was imposing looking. I took Row's hand in mine and left Woody in charge of getting Bell from the car to the church without letting her get loose.

As soon as we stepped inside the kids were greeted by a swarm of men in black. I looked at the guys and charged them, "Don't let either one of them out of the door, and under no circumstances is either of them to be allowed to get dirty." The men replied with a quick, "Yes Ma'am," and a sea of smiles.

I went off to figure out what we needed to do realizing I was probably the only woman in America who would be completely at ease leaving my children alone with the group of men congregated at the back of the church.

I found the priest and he pointed me in the right direction to get the instructions for the service. Lester came around the corner looking stunning in his black suit causing me to let out a "Wow," myself at his appearance.

"Remember Beautiful," He teased spinning around to give me the full view. "All of this could have been yours, but you had to go hook up with a cowboy."

I hugged him and we chatted for a few minutes before we were interrupted when an usher told us it was time.

I went to the back of the church and got my children to remind them to do everything just like we had practiced. The fact that there were over two hundred people in the church didn't change their jobs at all. When the organ began playing Lester stepped out first and I put my hand on Row's shoulder and gave him the pillow with the rings attached to it. "Go walk to Tio Lester," I whispered and he nodded his understanding before lifting his chin to accept his challenge and stepping out to walk the long isle of the nave on his own.

The other attendants began to walk down the isle one by one until it was my turn so I turned around and smiled at my beautiful Bell and reminded her, "When Marina tells you to go then you walk down the isle, dropping the flowers like we practiced and then you can stand right next to me at the front, okay?"

She nodded, suddenly looking frightened. I knew she would do it and my heart beat stronger as I saw her fight against her fear to find the courage to do what she needed to. Marina put her hand on Bell's shoulder and got her attention so that I could walk down the isle to my place across from Woody and Row at the front.

Finally, the organist switched to the Bridal march and Bell began walking toward me dropping handfuls of rose petals on the red carpet. When Marina stepped out every eye went to her. She was a vision in white and the look on Lester's face as his bride walked toward him was priceless. He loved that woman with all that was in him. Just like I promised him, once their relationship moved to a physical one, they took the flirting and innuendo to a whole new level and the tension that bounced off of them when they were together was electric.

It took him a couple of years of dating before he could envision himself marrying her. He refused to use the phrase settling down, but on more than one occasion he said he hoped they could have a daughter just like Bell. The bond between my little girl and her Tio Lester was as strong as my own relationship with him. Marina agreed to marry Lester, but wanted them to have a long engagement and try out living together for a while, so their road to marriage took four years. But looking at Lester now, it was more than worth the wait.

I was surprised at how emotional I found the service. I never wanted a big wedding and loved the memory of my own marriage service in Virginia. But the vows were the same as the ones we said and as they repeated after the priest I caught Woody's eye and smiled when he winked at me. We continued to look at each other, oblivious to the happenings around us and it only took seconds before I felt the familiar spark between us ignite. I wondered how rude it would be to leave the kids at the reception for a while to find a place to celebrate privately with my husband. I took a deep breath willing my stubborn hormones to calm down. We had hours before we could slip away, but I made up my mind to call Ella as soon as we were home to see if the kids could have a sleep over with her and Louis tonight. Looking at Woody in his suit made me aware of the fact that I was going to need hours of uninterrupted time with my husband.

When the priest announced Lester could kiss his bride he slowly made his way to her mouth and gave her the perfect wedding kiss, just long enough to show the real emotion behind it, but not involved enough to make the ushers feel like passing around a pay per view basket. We processed out with the twins right in front of us and when we made it to the back I took a deep breath realizing both of our children had risen to the occasion and done a wonderful job. Woody grabbed my arm to get my attention and pulled me to him to whisper, "Talk to Ella before we leave the church to see if they can go home with her for a sleep over. That service was just long enough for me to come up with all kinds of ideas of things that I want to do to you tonight. We're going to need hours without them at home, and I think you should arrange for a late morning too so that you can rest in to recover."

I would have made a witty come back about him thinking pretty highly of his skills, but I knew Woody never over exaggerated in this area and if he set his mind to it, he could darn well make it impossible for me to walk the next morning so I held on to him while waiting for my balance to return and then I dumbly nodded my head that I understood and would take care of it.

At the reception the kids had a wonderful time, walking around greeting people and dancing. Bell must have danced with nearly every Merry Man there. Some she stood on their toes, some she swayed on her own feet, and with Tank, she held on as he hoisted her up and held her to move around the dance floor with her in his arms. Row stood back a little taking the room in, but when Marina asked if he wanted to dance with her his eyes got big and he gave her a quiet yes before walking out on the wooden floor and holding her hands to sway in little circles. I choked back a few tears at the sight knowing that all too quickly he would probably be doing this for real with his own bride.

I managed to find Ella and asked how she would feel about a sleep over tonight. Her face lit up as it did every time the kids went to her apartment and she quickly agreed, volunteering to take them home from the reception when they left in a few minutes. Then she pushed it a little further for me and said, "Can we keep them until lunch tomorrow too? Louis wants to add to the jungle gym out back and we can take them to the showroom to test out the new elements the guys suggested."

I smiled at how perfectly it worked out as I agreed. There was a piece of me that wondered if Ella understood what was going on and just made up the errand for to save me the embarrassment of having to ask her to keep them later, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth so I thanked her and moved over to Woody to tell him every thing was set.

The table where the twins were sitting surrounded by their "Uncles" audibly complained when Ella and Louis tried to remove their little guests from the party. Woody went over and encouraged the kids to go nicely and quietly and they obeyed their father beautifully. I smiled because I knew if I had gone over they would have begged for just five more minutes, but they listened to their Dad dutifully.

After Row and Bell left, I noticed a distinct change in the atmosphere. The controlled fun that had been the rule left the building and the music got louder, the dancing got dirtier, and the drinks flowed twice as fast. I held to my single glass of wine rule, refusing to ever have a night that I couldn't remember again. But I will admit that when the music slowed I grabbed Woody's hand and melted into him as his left arm wrapped around my back and his right hand went to my neck.

This was my heaven. These arms wrapped around me in this way could drive away the worst thought, the biggest fear and the deepest seated insecurity. We didn't speak at all, but managed to get closer with nearly every word the singer belted out. When the song ended Woody pushed me over to a dark corner beside a column to obstruct anyone's view of us.

Woody's lips found mine and we kissed like teenagers through the next two songs. It wasn't until the sound of voices clearing caught us unaware that we came up for air.

"The bride and groom want to leave, but they wanted to see you guys first. If you can let the woman have a little air, then she might be able to walk over to the door on her own," Bobby teased.

I laughed and looked at Gina standing beside him when I replied, "From the look of things, you don't have much room to talk about letting your woman have some air." Gina was just beginning to show, and even though they hadn't made an official announcement I could tell from her glow that she was pregnant. She blushed beautifully at my words and the guys began to ask what was going on. I left Bobby to deal with that mess, while Woody and I made our way over to Les and Marina to tell them goodbye.

Marina hugged me tightly to her. We had become very close ever since she took hours going through her store pulling out all the clothes that would work for my rapidly expanding belly. I was so grateful for her extra care to make me one of the most fashionable pregnant women ever. She said, "Thank you so much for everything you did to bring us together. I can't believe how close I came to shooting him down until I saw him with you. I'll always count you as the reason I gave him another chance and got to know him for the man he is behind the persona."

"I don't think I did anything all that special," I told her, but then added, "If you insist on thanking me, you can do it by taking care of my friend. He's a good man, and I think you'll be very happy." She pulled back wiping away the tears that were falling down her face and smiled at me showing her joy at being Mrs. Lester Santos.

Lester took the space between us as his opportunity to jump in and hug me himself. "Beautiful, I can't believe I'm married." He admitted softly in my ear holding me every bit as close to him as Woody had initially on the dance floor. I told him to be happy and enjoy his honeymoon which made Lester laugh and reply, "Beautiful, that is one thing I can guarantee."

When we pulled apart I placed a soft kiss on his cheek and rubbed my hand over the spot my lips had just touched. We smiled at each other both reveling in that fact that he was right years ago on his sofa when he told me that kids would change my life, but it wouldn't change who I was at heart. I still held him as close to me as ever and nothing would ever change that.

The bride and groom left to cheers and birdseed on their way to the Caribbean for two weeks. Woody pulled me to his side after Les left and said, "Amazing."

"What is?" I asked wondering if he meant the fact that Lester the playboy finally settled down.

"The fact that all these years later, and even after watching him get married with my own eyes, I still want to beat him to a pulp every time he touches you. Shit, that man gets under my skin and I feel this need to remind him who you belong to."

I decided to let his caveman comment go and instead I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled his face to mine to kiss him. "How about you take me home and I'll put something else under your skin that will make it so you don't have a single thought about Lester Santos."

"Grab your bag," He commanded reaching in his pocket for his car keys.

Woody wove in and out of traffic driving like his life depended upon us getting to Haywood in record time. When the doors to the elevator closed he pulled me to him for a deep kiss full of need. I knew in the back of my mind that the guys on monitors were getting quite a show, but my hormones were in the front of my mind and they didn't care one bit.

We made our way to the apartment as quietly as possible so the kids wouldn't hear us and come out to say goodnight. Once the door shut I thanked God that Louis was thoughtful enough to put special soundproofing material in our apartment walls. The path from the door to our bedroom was littered with clothes as we couldn't wait to have our skin touching.

I had on a special set of lingerie I had picked up just in case we had a child free night tonight. The lace wasn't missed by Woody. When my dress and shoes came off revealing me in nothing by the matching bra and panties he stopping kissing me long enough to say, "Damn Darlin', you're killing me here."

Playing innocent I asked what he meant and heard him say, "I love this," as his hand ran over the white lace, "But I need it gone now." And with that confession I heard the unmistakable sound of material being ripped.

Two hours later I was a puddle of goo lying on top of Woody who was working to get his own breathing under control. I'm not sure where the question came from, but I couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any regrets with how we came together?"

His eyes snapped open at the unexpected question. "Only one," He replied. I waited for a minute instead of struggling to find the energy to ask what it was. He satisfied my curiosity by telling me, "I regret not telling you sooner how I felt. To think we could have been doing this for seven years instead of five is mind blowing."

I laughed at his reply and found I wasn't the only one who noticed what the movement of our chests' shaking in laugher did between us. As I felt him begin to rise to attention once more he rolled me over to position himself above me. "Why?" He turned the question on me, "Do you have any regrets?"

"Only one," I mimicked his reply. "I regret that I can't remember our first night. I got a few pieces of it in dreams, but I could never reconstruct the whole thing in my memory and I wish I could."

"How about I show you what happened?" He offered. I nodded that I would like that and he stood up making me complain loudly. Somehow I thought we were moving more towards getting closer than getting further apart.

Woody laughed and then said, "We didn't start naked in your bed."

With that he offered me his hand to help me stand up and we walked to the front door. He spun me around and put a hand on either side of my head, effectively pinning me to the cool wall with his body. "I started by asking if you were sure," He said kissing down my neck as he had in my dreams after that night.

"And I said yes I was," I tried to keep the story moving.

Woody shook his head no, "You said, 'Hell yes.' There was no hesitation, no doubt, and no reservation."

Then he lifted me so that I could wrap my legs around his waist and he moved me to the bedroom laying me on the bed and covering my body with his. Then he painstakingly recreated that night by telling me every word, and recreating every kiss and every touch as though that night were permanently burned into his memory.

When I came the first time I could not control the scream that escaped my lips. I was never known for being quiet, but even by my standards I knew that was loud. Woody moved his mouth to my ear and said, "That is exactly what you did the first night."

He continued to tell me about the second and third time, and the fourth as dawn began to break. Each telling involved his gentle recreation and by the last time I broke down and cried. It wasn't the first time sex with Woody had brought tears to my eyes, but this time there was the overwhelming feeling of love that not only did he move me physically, but he was trying to give me the one thing I had wanted for a long time –a memory of the night our children were conceived.

I was positive I couldn't move again for at least a few hours and from the slow movements Woody made I believed he felt the same way. We drifted off to sleep and as I dreamed my mind wove the images I had in my subconscious with the experience we just shared and I felt as though for the first time ever I could remember what we shared in my old apartment five years ago.

Woody kept me tucked against him through the night and when the sun rose in the morning I smiled at our position and the warm feel of our skin touching. I was a very lucky woman. I had a wonderful son and daughter who were happy and healthy. I had a job that I excelled at and a group of co-workers that I loved like family. But mostly, I had a husband who never gave up on his love for me before I realized he was the man I most needed to be happy.

While I was lost in my thoughts Woody got up and returned a few minutes later with a slice of cheesecake from the fridge and a single fork. I rolled over and smiled at the sight of my gloriously naked husband standing in front of me holding what I already knew was something delicious that he was going to share.

We had long ago stopped justifying our love of dessert for breakfast when it was just the two of us. And guilt free he began to feed me the cheesecake kissing me between bites and removing any crumbs from the crust around my mouth with his tongue.

I considered it the perfect way to begin the day and counted it a great blessing the number of times my days had begun just like this. With us in bed like this a blind man could easily read this clue; Woody loved me as freely and deeply as I did him. Once the plate was empty, he sat it aside and pulled me to him as he once more showed me just how strongly he felt.

A quick glance at the clock showed we had five hours before Ella would bring the kids home. I smiled as I wondered if that would give us enough time. Yes, I was a very lucky woman indeed.


End file.
